Restaurant Law

We Help Those In The Food Industry Take The Right Legal Steps While Doing Business

The Calhoun Law Firm, PLC, provides restaurant industry clients with legal counsel and representation in transactional and dispute resolution matters.

Restaurant transactional legal matters are focused on forming arrangements amongst interested parties; formalizing those arrangements in contracts or agreements; and later executing per the terms established.  Arrangements may focus on commercial transactions, hiring and managing employees, managing intellectual property, conducting E-commerce, business structuring, and enterprise operations.

Restaurant dispute resolution matters are focused on resolving conflicts between two or more parties. Conflicts occur when a party violates the terms of a contract, or once a party’s wrongful acts result in injury to someone’s property or reputation.  Legal representation is provided during negotiations, mediation, arbitration, and litigation conducted to resolve the dispute.

Our restaurant clients count on us for legal counsel and representation in matters involving:

  • Restaurant Formation and Structuring
  • Contracts
  • Commercial Transactions
  • Regulatory Compliance
  • Employment
  • Intellectual Property
  • E-commerce
  • Dispute Resolution and Litigation

Our Arizona Restaurant attorneys advise upscale restaurants, casual dining, quick service restaurants, and stand-alone hotel-mall-stadium food facilities in Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Scottsdale, Peoria, and Tempe on contractual, intellectual property, litigation, e-commerce, employment, regulatory compliance, business structuring, and crisis management matters.

Restaurant Formation and Structuring Law

Launching or reorganizing a restaurant enterprise by yourself or with partners an enormous undertaking.  The Calhoun Law Firm, PLC, helps clients identify, evaluate, and choose the right formation and structuring solution for their restaurant enterprise.  Our restaurant enterprise formation and structuring services include:

  • Determining and forming an appropriate business structure for your restaurant enterprise ensuring day-to-day management and control is structured for your needs and limited liability is preserved.
  • Developing and executing restaurant business purchase / sale strategies establishing the purchase price, assets exchanged, level of seller post sale consulting support to be provided, non-compete guidelines, non-solicitation guidelines, non-disclosure guidelines, transferability of existing leases and transferability of existing employment contracts.
  • Developing and executing succession strategies accounting for management transition, liabilities, ownership interests, voting rights for owners and stakeholders, and addressing asset protection opportunities and challenges.
  • Developing and executing dissolution strategies accounting for notifying creditors of the pending dissolution, finalizing asset distributions, and settling with parties with outstanding claims.

Restaurant Contract Law

Restaurant contracts set out the rights and responsibilities of each party to an agreement.  The Calhoun Law Firm, PLC, provides counsel to upscale restaurants, casual dining, quick service restaurants, and stand-alone hotel-mall-stadium food facilities during negotiations, drafting, and review of restaurant contracts regarding:

  • Restaurant formation activities involving asset purchase-sale agreements, assignments of interest, bills of sale, buy-sell agreements, corporate by-laws, shareholders agreements, distribution agreements, equipment leases, franchise disclosure documents, franchise agreements, letters of intent, membership interest purchase agreements, LLC operating agreements, real estate leases, real estate purchase agreements, and termination agreements.
  • Restaurant commercial transaction activities involving letters of intent, non-disclosure agreements (NDA), outsourcing agreements, release of liability agreements, sales contracts, sale of goods agreements, sale of services agreements, security agreements, and supplier agreements.
  • Restaurant employment activities involving employment contracts, independent contractor agreements, non-compete agreements, non-solicitation agreements, and non-disclosure agreements.
  • Restaurant intellectual property activities involving intellectual property agreements, intellectual property licensing agreements, and trademark licensing agreements.
  • Restaurant e-commerce activities involving terms of service, website development and hosting agreements, and web site terms of use agreements.
  • Restaurant litigation activities, we compose release and settlement agreements.

Restaurant Commercial Transaction Law

Restaurant commercial transactions include the acquisition and operation of restaurants, brand protection, intellectual property optimization, franchising, brand licensing, regulatory compliance, and leasing.  We provide commercial transaction legal advice to upscale restaurants, casual dining, quick service restaurants, stand-alone hotel-mall-stadium food facilities, and other people involved in the restaurant industry during all commercial transaction phases including:

  • During negotiations we participate in due diligence reviews, identify potential legal issues, and formulate solutions supplying actionable risk mitigation strategies.  We facilitate client understanding of all contractual terms, and assist in preparing for any post-contract issues.
  • During formalization we assist clients create a contract specifying the activities entered into by both organizations and the terms through which they will each fulfill their parts of the agreement.  We ensure the contract formalizes who is buying what from whom, at what price, at whose risk, and on what timetable.
  • Assisting organizations in applying processes and procedures that manage the fulfillment, modification, and termination of contracts with a variety of stakeholders; including customers, suppliers, vendors, and contractors, during execution.

Restaurant Regulatory Compliance

Restaurants require business licenses, food safety licenses and, if you plan to serve alcoholic beverages, liquor licenses. Depending on locale and offerings, you may also need additional permits, such as:

  • Prepare zoning, rezoning, and special land use applications.
  • An entertainment license to provide live music, offer karaoke or dancing.
  • Music licenses for streaming music in restaurants and bars.
  • Outdoor seating sidewalk permits.
  • Liquor licenses if you plan to serve alcohol.
  • Customer car parking valet parking permits.
  • A dumpster permit allowing you to park your trash can in front of a bar or restaurant.

As a restaurant owner, expect regular food safety inspections.  A failed inspection could cause the closure of your restaurant. State and federal authorities regulate employee hygiene, employee safety, food preparation methods, food labeling, food sourcing, and maintenance of food storage and preparation equipment.

Restaurant Intellectual Property Protection

We provide general intellectual property law advice to restaurant industry clients and counsel them on restaurant industry unique intellectual property matters.

Guidance is provided on intellectual property considerations common to a variety of businesses including acquiring trademarks, acquiring copyrights, protecting trade secrets, licensing intellectual property, purchasing intellectual property, and intellectual property dispute resolution.   Additional details on these topics are provided in the practice area description of intellectual property.

Additionally, restaurant specific intellectual property counseling is provided on matters that include:

  • Counsel clients on selection of names for services or products, signage, Internet activities, and the like.
  • Counseling on trade secrets, restrictive covenants, and other employment related intellectual property issues.
  • Represent the plaintiff / applicant or defendant / respondent in copyright infringement.
  • Advisory services concerning the identification, selection, and preservation of the client’s own original copyright-protected works.

Restaurant Employment Law

Compliance with employment statutes and regulations is an essential component of operating a successful restaurant enterprise. We provide employment legal counsel to upscale restaurants, casual dining, quick service restaurants, and stand-alone hotel-mall-stadium food facilities covering a wide range of federal, state, and local employee / independent contractor legal issues including:

  • Establishing guidelines for determining workforce employee / independent contractor classifications and creating Employment Contracts / Independent Contractor Agreements defining employment duration, benefits, compensation, and grounds for termination, and specific issues including who owns work products produced while on the clock.
  • Drafting Employee-Handbooks defining a company’s culture, setting on-job expectations for employees, and notifying employees of their rights under the law.  The handbook defines the company’s processes and procedures for hiring and separation, wages and overtime, promotions and performance reviews, medical and parental leave, required on-job behaviors and discipline, discrimination and harassment, trade secrets and confidentiality, and fringe benefits.
  • Developing and conducting training programs for both supervisory and non-supervisory employees focused on wage and work hour compliance, performance management, harassment prevention and remediation, substance abuse in the workplace, interviewing and hiring, and equal opportunity.

Restaurant E-commerce Law

If you have a business website, a business email account, or business social media accounts, you’re participating actively in E-commerce.  There are dangers involved in operating online, including cyber piracy, data protection, and copyright / trademark infringements.  We provide legal counsel to restaurant enterprises with an internet presence covering a wide range of internet considerations including compliance with state and federal online advertising regulations; compliance with state and federal online consumer privacy regulations; domain name selection-registration and maintenance; and website development arrangements.

Restaurant Dispute Resolution and Litigation Law

We provide general dispute resolution advice to restaurant industry clients and counsel them on restaurant industry unique dispute resolution matters.

Guidance is provided on dispute resolution considerations common to a variety of businesses including negotiations, mediation, arbitration, litigation, and appeals.  Additional details on these topics are provided in the practice area description of dispute resolution and litigation.

Additionally, restaurant specific dispute resolution counseling is provided on matters that include:

  • Training and counseling management regarding labor and employment matters;
  • Represent employers before state and federal agencies including EEOC, NLRB, DOL, OSHA, OFCCP and similar state and local agencies;
  • Bargaining, grievance handling and arbitration;
  • Litigating employment related claims before agencies and state and federal courts.

Contacting The Calhoun Law Firm, PLC

If our capabilities match your needs, we invite you to contact us today by one of these means:

  • Call us at 877-455-6344 to evaluate our capabilities to address your situation.
  • Submit an inquiry via our Contact Us Form to brief your situation and needs.
  • Schedule a 45-minute legal Consultation via our client portal to review your situation and approaches by which your objectives can be met.

Our Arizona Restaurant Attorneys are experts in handling the legal matters that Phoenix and Tucson area upscale restaurants, casual dining, quick service restaurants, and stand-alone hotel-mall-stadium food facilities address during the course of their daily business activities. Moreover, our Arizona Restaurant Lawyers assist restaurant in the Phoenix and Tucson areas with contractual, intellectual property, litigation, e-commerce, employment, regulatory compliance, business structuring, and crisis management matters. Clients from Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Scottsdale, Peoria, and Tempe are regularly advised and represented by our firm.