Levine Law obtains a first in its kind liquor license in Massachusetts!

In Massachusetts, liquor license holders can hire a company to operate the establishment serving liquor, usually resulting in an outside company running a restaurant or bar. The Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) reviews and approves the agreements between the license holder and the management company. The license holder is typically a hotel or a chain restaurant. In fact, management agreements have always been used to run a bar or restaurant, until today.

Levine Law was approached by a package store owner who was looking to have an employee run the day-to-day operation of the store while the owner maintained financial control and oversight. While this seemed like a reasonable goal, we knew it was out of the norm for management agreements. We contacted the ABCC and were told by the executive team that it had never been done before but, if the management agreement was carefully drafted, it could be approved.

Today, after city approval and on the ABCC investigator’s recommendation, the ABCC approved the package store license with a management agreement, the first of its kind in Massachusetts! Our client had an out-of-the-box idea and is very happy we got it through.

If you have a unique liquor license issue in Massachusetts, give the team at Levine Law a call.