David has successfully represented dozens of restaurants, bars and package stores before the local licensing boards and the ABCC to obtain transfer and amend alcoholic Beverage Licenses.  In addition, when violations do occur, David has established a very strong track record in working with the local boards to eliminate or minimize the impact of these alleged violations.

CLIENT TESTIMONIAL

“WHEN WE PURCHASED BARNSTABLE MARKET DAVID’S ADVICE ALLOWED US TO OPEN AS SCHEDULED, DESPITE SOME VERY COMPLICATED ISSUES THAT AROSE BEFORE THE LOCAL LICENSING BOARD”.

BRIAN SMITH
BARNSTABLE MARKET

IN THE NEWS

Wine, beer sales OK’d for Barnstable Market
Written by Edward F. Maroney

Attorneys Ted Schilling, left, and David Lawler were each representing a business seeking a new wine and beer license Jan. 9. It had been thought that three were available, but only one was confirmed by the state.

Lambert’s will have to wait a bit
Barnstable Village can start planning to make local wine and beer purchases again soon, following the licensing authority’s granting of a retail store package license Jan. 9.
The community has been looking forward to the full restoration of its county store across from Barnstable Superior Courthouse, due to open next month as Barnstable Market. There were some surprises Monday, however, when the authority, with two requests for a wine and beer license on its agenda, found that the state alcohol control board credits Barnstable with only one such available license.
The town is in discussion with the state board and it’s likely that a couple more licenses will be identified as available. For the moment, however, Lambert’s Rainbow Fruit, on West Main Street in Centerville, will have to wait until the haze clears.
Even so, board members found that Lambert’s had made its case that the public need and convenience would be served by allowing wine and beer sales. That was so even though there are full-service package stores less than a mile in either direction from the business.
The meeting didn’t exactly come down to a duel between attorneys David Lawler, representing Barnstable Market, and Ted Schilling, speaking for Lambert’s, for the one available license, but there were some delicate moments nonetheless.
Lawler told the board that the previous businesses occupying the Barnstable Market building had held full retail liquor licenses for decades. He noted that villagers now have to drive into Hyannis, West Barnstable or Yarmouth to buy wine or beer.
Making what she termed a rare appearance at a licensing meeting, Town Councilor Ann Canedy said her village “has lost our cleaners, barber shop and general store.” The reopened market, she said, is key to the area’s revitalization. In addition, she observed, “We are an introverted village in the winter. We don’t like to travel too far.”
Patrick Page of West Barnstable spoke in favor of the license, as he did for Lambert’s when its request was heard.
The board decided to hear from Lambert’s as well before making its decision, and settled in to listen to Schilling’s presentation. The attorney cited Michael Lambert’s long presence in and service to the community, along with his family, and said that changes in the business have pushed Lambert’s toward a niche market of providing prepared gourmet meals for home consumption. It’s a convenience, he said, for customers to add a bottle of wine to their market basket on the way home to dinner.
Acknowledging that there were package stores nearby, Schilling used a map of the town to show the limited options to buy wine and beer in Centerville itself. He cemented his position by presenting a petition with 1,200 signatures that called for wine and beer sales at Lambert’s.
Schilling said his client’s sales would be no competition to Cape Cod Package Store just west on Route 28. Whose “selection is fabulous.” That store’s owners, through attorney Phil Boudreau, made it clear that they would not oppose a license for Lambert’s as long as sales were limited as described.
Taking up the Barnstable Market application first, authority member Gene Burman said he saw a license as “a real need for the community. I don’t see any negatives.” Martin Hoxie and Paul Sullivan joined him in approving the request.
As for Lambert’s, Hoxie said he was “impressed by the presentation” that had shown some need for wine and beer sales, and proposed continuing the matter to Jan. 30, when the number of available licenses may be more definite.

OL scores at licensing board, Brazilian market can sell wine and beer.

Out of many, one is our national motto. But when you’re out of your native country’s special beers and wines, that’s another matter.
The Barnstable Licensing Authority, stingy about granting such approvals when an establishment is near one or more other locations that sell alcohol, decided Sept. 19 that GOL Supermarket’s special service to the Brazilian community merited a license allowing the Hyannis store to sell beers and wines from the South American nation.
“There was clear evidence of need for this,” member Paul Sullivan said of a presentation by the Hyannis store’s manager, Vincent D’Olimpio and his attorney, David Lawler. Sullivan noted the absence of other proprietors speaking in protest at the advertised hearing. He noted that one establishment was 500 feet away, and another a half mile distant or less.
D’Olimpio raised a point that seemed to reach chairman Martin Hoxie, noting that the board had approved a beer and wine license for Orexi Foods on Main Street in Hyannis based in part on its commitment to providing Mediterranean specialties.
In granting GOL the license, Hoxie said his only concern was that the focus remain on Brazilian specialties and that the market “not turn into a regular package store.” D’Olimpio had offered guarantees that alcohol sales would remain a small part of the overall market and keep its focus on Brazilian products.
“GOL isn’t out there selling Oscar Mayer,” Lawler had said earlier. “It’s not trying to compete with liquor superstores. It’s looking to provide its clientele with something they can’t get.”
The vote was 2 to 1, with member Richard Boy remaining unconvinced. “This type of operation is too close in proximity to other providers,” he said, “You haven’t proved need and convenience at all.”
Although D’Olimpio and Lawler presented a survey that showed few Brazilian wines and beers were available at other establishments, Boy said that consumers should ask other retailers to carry them.