Wine Law? Forum

[Xnegd]

Hi TSL, hoping you are well!

So, I've been trying to research some information, and I thought maybe I could attain some knowledge from TSL about such.

I'm applying for law school starting this September. My gpa is a 3.5 from Berkeley, and I'm testing at ~164 for the June LSAT. I currently work for a law firm as a paralegal of sorts dealing with Contracts, and always figured I just stick with legal contracts when I practice, because it's what I know and a career I can see myself doing until old age. This always seamed to be a logical path, and a sure way to avoid the burnout and regret common with new lawyers.

A increasing passion of mine is Oenology, and dealing with wine on several levels. I live in the Bay Area, around Sonoma, and am really getting into all aspects of it. I tried to research if our firm represents any Wineries so I could talk to the lawyers for advice, but no one currently represents any here. Do, you guys know anything about wine law? Does that specialization even exist? What would that entail: Intellectual Property, Real Estate & Land Use, Labor Employment, etc? What aspects of specialization should I be looking into to see how interested I find them, and if I have a talent for such?

Where would be the best place to go to study wine law where I could still get a great contract specialization to fall back on? I'm thinking UC Davis and Berkeley would be the best places. That's why I mentioned my stats before, because I'm at Davis' Median, and would probably be competitive for their Admissions. Should they maybe be my first choice if I want this career? Are there other schools I should seriously start researching. Maybe Oregon…though I'd like to stay in the top 50 realm? Any incite, or help with suggestions on where I should start researching are welcome.

Thanks!

[Xnegd]

Sorry if my post was overly detailed. Let me attempt being parsimonious:

What are great Law Schools for Wine Law?

[thatsnotmyname]

There's actually something called wine law? Sounds pretty awesome.

[holydonkey]

http://www.stoel.com/showindustry.aspx? ... =Attorneys

[emilybeth]

Boalt offers a class called Wine Law.

http://www.law.berkeley.edu/php-program ... p?cID=7497

[Thane Messinger]

Hi TSL, hoping you are well!

So, I've been trying to research some information, and I thought maybe I could attain some knowledge from TSL about such.

I'm applying for law school starting this September. My gpa is a 3.5 from Berkeley, and I'm testing at ~164 for the June LSAT. I currently work for a law firm as a paralegal of sorts dealing with Contracts, and always figured I just stick with legal contracts when I practice, because it's what I know and a career I can see myself doing until old age. This always seamed to be a logical path, and a sure way to avoid the burnout and regret common with new lawyers.

A increasing passion of mine is Oenology, and dealing with wine on several levels. I live in the Bay Area, around Sonoma, and am really getting into all aspects of it. I tried to research if our firm represents any Wineries so I could talk to the lawyers for advice, but no one currently represents any here. Do, you guys know anything about wine law? Does that specialization even exist? What would that entail: Intellectual Property, Real Estate & Land Use, Labor Employment, etc? What aspects of specialization should I be looking into to see how interested I find them, and if I have a talent for such?

Where would be the best place to go to study wine law where I could still get a great contract specialization to fall back on? I'm thinking UC Davis and Berkeley would be the best places. That's why I mentioned my stats before, because I'm at Davis' Median, and would probably be competitive for their Admissions. Should they maybe be my first choice if I want this career? Are there other schools I should seriously start researching. Maybe Oregon…though I'd like to stay in the top 50 realm? Any incite, or help with suggestions on where I should start researching are welcome.

Thanks!

This is a fair question, as there are many examples of these sub-specialties. The answer is that, while there are a handful of lawyers who have winery clients, or do deal with these types of issues, chances are there are very few who consider that their true speciality. Even so, if it is a genuine interest, it would be possible to build, over time, a clientele that included just the type of interesting oenological challenges.

How to do research? Find lawyers who represent wineries, and ask to take them to lunch. Chances are they would be happy to talk with you, and might even be interested in later offering a part-time job as you stay in touch.

How to find those lawyers? Chances are the best place to look is the wineries. What you'll probably find is that the largest wineries use larger firms, and the smaller wineries use smaller firms, solos, or no one.

Also, part of this is that there really isn't a specialization, even in such fields as "entertainment law." Without a clear track record (say, as a sports commissioner or network producer), it is very dangerous to use this with law schools. Why? At best they ignore it, as the model in law school is generalization, not specialization (beyone litigation/transactional, and sometimes environmental law, etc.) In nearly all instances, one's "specialization" in law school has very little to do with what one actually ends up practicing.

I hope this helps,

Thane.

Thane Messinger
Author of:
Law School: Getting In, Getting Good, Getting the Gold
The Young Lawyer's Jungle Book: A Survival Guide

[Xnegd]

Thank you all, this is much appreciated!

[fakemoney]

Wow, you just gave me a great idea for an LLM

[A'nold]

You could try to go in-house for a corporate wine company. This way, you'd be dealing w/ contracts and wine.

[Xnegd]

You could try to go in-house for a corporate wine company. This way, you'd be dealing w/ contracts and wine.

Yea, I was thinking of that of that. I e-mailed a couple wineries today to see if they had In House Counsels, just to get a feel for how common it was.

Thanks!

[Xnegd]

Hi TSL, hoping you are well!

So, I've been trying to research some information, and I thought maybe I could attain some knowledge from TSL about such.

I'm applying for law school starting this September. My gpa is a 3.5 from Berkeley, and I'm testing at ~164 for the June LSAT. I currently work for a law firm as a paralegal of sorts dealing with Contracts, and always figured I just stick with legal contracts when I practice, because it's what I know and a career I can see myself doing until old age. This always seamed to be a logical path, and a sure way to avoid the burnout and regret common with new lawyers.

A increasing passion of mine is Oenology, and dealing with wine on several levels. I live in the Bay Area, around Sonoma, and am really getting into all aspects of it. I tried to research if our firm represents any Wineries so I could talk to the lawyers for advice, but no one currently represents any here. Do, you guys know anything about wine law? Does that specialization even exist? What would that entail: Intellectual Property, Real Estate & Land Use, Labor Employment, etc? What aspects of specialization should I be looking into to see how interested I find them, and if I have a talent for such?

Where would be the best place to go to study wine law where I could still get a great contract specialization to fall back on? I'm thinking UC Davis and Berkeley would be the best places. That's why I mentioned my stats before, because I'm at Davis' Median, and would probably be competitive for their Admissions. Should they maybe be my first choice if I want this career? Are there other schools I should seriously start researching. Maybe Oregon…though I'd like to stay in the top 50 realm? Any incite, or help with suggestions on where I should start researching are welcome.

Thanks!

This is a fair question, as there are many examples of these sub-specialties. The answer is that, while there are a handful of lawyers who have winery clients, or do deal with these types of issues, chances are there are very few who consider that their true speciality. Even so, if it is a genuine interest, it would be possible to build, over time, a clientele that included just the type of interesting oenological challenges.

How to do research? Find lawyers who represent wineries, and ask to take them to lunch. Chances are they would be happy to talk with you, and might even be interested in later offering a part-time job as you stay in touch.

How to find those lawyers? Chances are the best place to look is the wineries. What you'll probably find is that the largest wineries use larger firms, and the smaller wineries use smaller firms, solos, or no one.

Also, part of this is that there really isn't a specialization, even in such fields as "entertainment law." Without a clear track record (say, as a sports commissioner or network producer), it is very dangerous to use this with law schools. Why? At best they ignore it, as the model in law school is generalization, not specialization (beyone litigation/transactional, and sometimes environmental law, etc.) In nearly all instances, one's "specialization" in law school has very little to do with what one actually ends up practicing.

I hope this helps,

Thane.

Thane Messinger
Author of:
Law School: Getting In, Getting Good, Getting the Gold
The Young Lawyer's Jungle Book: A Survival Guide

Thanks Thane! I sent a couple e-mails out today to a couple attorneys. I'll send some more out tomorrow, and hope to get a response.

[IzziesGal]

The wine class at Boalt comes with wine and cheese hours. Seriously. The professor owns a small vineyard and he likes to do tastings as part of the semester. Not a bad deal, if you ask me.

[fenway]

/

[d34d9823]

Managing Director from Choate Hall (best firm in Boston)

Atrocious anti-Ropes trolling.

[fenway]

haha no, not trying to take a shot at Ropes, just using it for context. maybe we can settle on best single Boston office firm*

[FeuerFrei]

.

[Renzo]

I chose UVA so I can study beer law

No, you misheard at ASW. They said, "play beer pong," not, "learn beer law."

[notanumber]

True story: I was at a foodie event in San Francisco a few months back. I was chatting with one of my friends about law schools and the guy in front of me turns around and starts offering his advice on the process. Turns out he's a Yale law graduate who is now a wine lawyer up in Northern California. He got involved in the field while visiting France on vacation or something like that. Said that his love for his job skyrocketed after he fell into wine law. I wish I'd gotten his card or something of the sort.

[goodolgil]

It'd be cool getting involved with work related to how certain wines/spirits can only called certain things if they come from certain places (i.e. Bourbon from Kentucky, Champaign from the town in France, etc).

[Tangerine Gleam]

I'm definitely taking Wine Law my 2L year if it's still available. I've dreamed about getting involved in The Biz for quite some time now.

[A'nold]

I actually have a decent in at a huge wine company and I might be able to land in-house there someday......ownage!

Btw- if I get into Berkeley, I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO taking the wine law class.

[Xnegd]

Yea notanumber, too bad you didn't get his card, I'm sure he would have had one as a Yale grad. I've e-mailed a couple attorneys recomended to me that practice wine law. By far, they have been the nicest attorneys I have ever met with the exception to those that strictly do Pro Bono work.

I think there is really something to this here. Lol, hopefully I won't give too many people the idea and create too much competition.

Yea, I would do anything to get into Boalt, and take that class. Fyi - I called Davis, turns out they don't have a wine class, only Boalt does. The have a Wine lecture every now and then, but don't give credit for it or anything. Plus I guess it's really just for finance, and Horticulture.

Also, I e-mailed a couple wineries I live by. They were actually super open and helpful. Told me to focus on contracts and financing, and wished me luck in school. It was very lovely, and I'm definitely thinking this is what I want to do. I'd definitely sacrifice a six figure salary if it meant I got to be as happy as these people seam to be.