Featured Attorney

Frank Y. Knizner is an Attorney at Lehrman Beverage Law, PLLC. Frank joined the firm as a Law Clerk in 2014, and became an Associate Attorney in 2015. Frank’s practice areas include federal alcohol beverage law, trademark law, and state and local alcohol beverage law.

As a principal trademark lawyer at the firm, Frank advises clients on all matters pertaining to alcohol beverage trademarks. Frank performs trademark clearance searches, helps clients obtain federal trademark registrations at the USPTO, and handles trademark oppositions, cancellations, and appeals at the TTAB. Frank also helps clients obtain state trademark registrations.

As part of the firm’s Federal Practice Group, Frank advises clients on issues related to Federal alcohol beverage law, including the production, importation, exportation, and wholesaling of beer, wine and distilled spirits. Frank helps clients obtain federal basic permits, label approvals, and formula approvals from TTB, as well as navigate and comply with complex Federal laws and regulations.

As part of the firm’s State and Local Practice Groups, Frank advises clients on state and local alcohol beverage laws and regulations, and helps clients obtain licenses and permits from state and local Alcohol Beverage Control agencies.

In addition to advising clients, Frank monitors legal issues and developments in the alcohol beverage industry, including label lawsuits and trademark disputes. Frank writes about these topics and more in the firm’s blog, Bevlog, and other publications.

Before working at Lehrman Beverage Law, Frank was a Law Clerk at Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware, where he helped the brewery monitor trademarks and comply with federal and state laws related to brewing, franchise agreements, and trade practices.

Frank graduated from The University of Mary Washington in 2012, and earned his J.D. from George Mason University School of Law in 2015. Frank is admitted to the Bar of Maryland.

Outside of the office, Frank enjoys playing guitar, being outdoors, travelling, spending time with his friends and family, and drinking craft beer.

Frank can be reached at 202-449-3739, ext. 706, or by email at frank.knizner@bevlaw.com.

Daniel J. Christopherson is an Of Counsel Attorney at Lehrman Beverage Law, PLLC. He joined the firm in 2013 after practicing law for over six years in the areas of business law, patent and trademark law, civil litigation, and beer law. At Lehrman Beverage Law, Daniel assists breweries, distilleries, and wineries with federal, state, and local licensing and compliance, and contract drafting and review.

Daniel has assisted numerous alcohol beverage companies (as well as several restaurants, bars, and food and non-alcoholic beverage companies) at developing and defending their trademark portfolios, both in the United States and internationally. Daniel has experience defending trademark applications and registrations in disputes against third parties, and has appealed USPTO refusals at the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Daniel has experience negotiating settlements between parties to resolve trademark disputes, including negotiating a settlement agreement between conflicting claims to marks including the phrase HATFIELD & MCCOY for competing alcoholic beverage products.

Daniel has worked with dozens of breweries throughout Virginia, DC, and Maryland, and works with numerous other alcohol beverage producers and brand owners throughout the country and the world. Daniel helped form the Loudoun County Brewer’s Association and has served in an advisory role for the organization ever since. Since 2017, Daniel is also actively expanding the firm’s practice in Colorado out of the firm’s satellite office located just outside of Denver.

Daniel graduated from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law in 2007. While there, Daniel focused his studies on intellectual property law. Daniel also interned for the trademark division of the USPTO and the United States Copyright Office. Daniel is barred in Colorado, and Washington, D.C., and is a registered Patent Attorney. Daniel graduated from Michigan State University in 2004, where he studied Philosophy.

Daniel has presented before industry members and legal professionals on legal issues affecting the alcohol beverage industry including trademarks, branding, beer law, distillery law, and wine law, and has been published in trade and legal publications on such topics.

Affiliations:

• DC Bar
• Colorado Bar
• United States Patent & Trademark Office Patent Bar
• Brewers Association, Trade Associate Member

Presentations:

• Next Level Compliance: Legal Growth in a Sea of Red Tape, The American Craft Spirits Association, 2017 ACSA Convention, February 2017.
• Branding Considerations for Spirits Companies in 2016, The American Craft Spirits Association, 2016 ACSA Convention, March 2016.
• The Brewhaha: Working with Craft Breweries for Trademark Brand Protection, and Other Issues, 30^th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference, American Bar Association, March 2015.
• Webinar: Smart Beer Branding in 2015 and Beyond, ShipCompliant, August 2015.
• Brewery and Distillery Law, National Business Institute, October 2015.
• Brewery and Distillery Law, National Business Institute, February 2015.
• Winery and Vineyard Law, National Business Institute, September 2014.

Publications:

• Trademarks in the Golden Age of Craft Beer, Landslide – A Publication of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law, Vol 8 No. 2 (November-December 2015).
• International Wine Trademarks: Growing Your Wine Brands Beyond the Border, The Grapevine Magazine (January 2017).
• STOP GETTING SUED: How to Help Avoid Trademark Disputes, Beverage Master Craft Spirits & Brew Magazine (October 2014).
• What Are Trademarks & Why Are They Important, Beverage Master Craft Spirits & Brew Magazine (October 2014).
• DCBrewLaw.com, main author.

John D. Messinger is a Senior Attorney at Lehrman Beverage Law, PLLC. He joined the firm in 2006 as a Law Clerk and became an Associate Attorney in 2009. John’s primary role at the firm is serving as outside regulatory counsel to alcohol beverage industry members, assisting breweries, distilleries, wineries, importers/wholesalers, and brand owners with labeling, formulation, licensing, advertising, taxation, product development and other federal and state compliance matters.

During his time at Lehrman Beverage Law, John has handled the review and related compliance work for over 3,500 formulations and 10,000 labels for a wide variety of beer, wine, and distilled spirits products (both imported and domestic), and obtained more than 100 producer-level Federal Basic Permits and Brewer’s Notices for clients. John works with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (“TTB”) daily, from advocating for the approval of clients’ labels, formulas, and permits, to responding to and negotiating with TTB on behalf of clients for excise tax claims and alleged violations of federal regulations.

John has assisted with due diligence and federal and state compliance matters for alcohol beverage companies acquired by other industry members or outside investment firms, including two sales worth more than $400 million. He has also advised clients on Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) regulations, provided guidance on the labeling of non-malt beer based hard seltzers and wines under 7% alcohol by volume, and advised on the GRAS (“Generally Recognized as Safe”) status of ingredients.

Aside from federal alcohol beverage compliance matters, John has assisted clients with state alcohol beverage compliance matters, including state classification and taxation of alcohol beverage products, state-level producer, distribution, and out of state shipper licensing, and responses to alleged violations of state consumer and trade practice statutes.

John has been featured as a speaker at alcohol beverage industry trade shows, where he gave presentations related to the regulation, classification, and taxation of alcohol beverages. John has also written articles for alcohol beverage industry publications and taught two continuing legal education courses covering the federal regulation of beer, wine, and distilled spirits. He is a member of the Brewer’s Association and a former member of the American Homebrewer’s Association.

John earned his J.D. from American University’s Washington College of Law in 2008 and is admitted to practice law in Virginia. He graduated from Mary Washington College in 2002.

Outside of the office, John enjoys spending time with family and friends and getting really into new hobbies that he inevitably drops within a few months or years for another new hobby. He has managed to stay interested in and involved with craft beer for more than a decade, even though he no longer brews his own.

Robert C. Lehrman is the principal attorney at Lehrman Beverage Law, PLLC.

Robert founded the firm in 2001 after 12 years at the Washington, DC office of a larger firm that specializes in federal and state administrative law. From 1998 until 2001 Robert was the partner in charge of the firm’s Washington, DC office.

Mr. Lehrman concentrates on the federal regulation of alcohol beverages (beer, wine and spirits).

He has advised many companies on the production, labeling, advertising, and taxation of a wide variety of consumer products:  foreign and domestic, with and without alcohol, fit and unfit for beverage purposes.

He has helped hundreds of companies formulate beverages to ensure that they are taxed and labeled in an advantageous manner while in compliance with relevant laws and regulations. These companies produce beverages in dozens of countries around the world and range from the largest to the smallest in the beverage industry.

Robert has efficiently reviewed thousands of food and beverage labels over the years. He has also helped to design the labels and get them promptly approved.

Robert has more than 30 years of experience in successfully representing wineries, breweries, distilleries and importers in frequent negotiations with ATF and now TTB. Aside from alcohol beverage matters, Robert has significant experience in advising clients on FDA and Customs matters.

Robert has worked with companies at all tiers of the beverage industry, including retailers, wholesalers, producers and importers. His experience includes licensing and permit matters at the federal level and in many states. Robert has particularly enjoyed the challenge of managing several large-scale product recalls, helping a beverage company win a false advertising case, and successfully petitioning to change various federal regulations. From 2004 to 2007 Robert worked with Kubler Absinthe to allow absinthe into the US after a 95-year ban. The firm has taken the lead in setting up scores of alcohol beverage companies, from incorporation to licensing to formulation to labeling to marketing.

Robert attended law school at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he also served on the Buffalo Law Review. Before law school Robert graduated from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, where he majored in Government.

He is admitted to practice law in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the National Association of Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Attorneys, the District of Columbia Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. Robert has also been admitted to practice law in Virginia and Pennsylvania (where he is currently on Associate and Retired status, respectively).

Robert C. Lehrman has been cited as an authority on alcohol beverage law by: Time Magazine, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, National Public Radio, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Herald, The Boston Globe, The Daily Californian, The Los Angeles Times, The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, The Virtual Absinthe Museum, Men’s Journal, The Augusta Chronicle, The Charlottesville Daily Progress, Gizmodo, Chicago Magazine, The Sacramento Bee, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Las Vegas Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, Reason Magazine, The Daily Beast, Wine & Spirits Daily, Dow Jones MarketWatch, Beer Business Daily, The New Jersey Law Journal, The BBC and many others.

In 2016, Thomson Reuters published “Reflections on Thirty Years of Spirits Law Practice:  From a Few Score to a Few Thousand Distilleries” by Mr. Lehrman. This is part of the Aspatore — Inside the Minds series, a book entitled Moonshiner to Craft Distillery: Leading Lawyers on the Business of Distilling.

Robert C. Lehrman has participated as a faculty lecturer at CLEI’s Beer, Wine & Spirits Law Conference, discussing ATF Label Revocation Procedures. In 2010, Robert moderated a NABCA panel entitled “TTB and FDA: Working Side by Side to Regulate Alcohol Beverages.” In 2014, Robert presented a speech about “Needs Correction: 9 Common Label & Formula Controversies for Spirits at TTB” at the American Distilling Institute conference in Seattle. Throughout 2013-2014, Robert covered spirits labels, formulas and permits several times per year as a speaker (along with such legends as Jimmy Russell of Wild Turkey) at the Moonshine University, Louisville, Kentucky. In 2014 Robert presented “The Label from Hell” at ShipCompliant’s Wholesale Gathering in New York. In 2015 Robert spoke at the American Distilling Institute annual convention in Louisville, on “The Law of Handmade.”