Admitted to Practice | Oregon, 1998 | | Washington, 2007 |
| Jess Lyon focuses his practice on transactions and regulatory issues for clients in the wine, food, beverage and agribusiness industries. He helps structure and negotiate asset acquisitions, and develops strategic agreements for manufacturing, distribution, licensing and marketing. Jess advises clients in a full range of related work, from real estate transactions to trademark licensing.
Jess speaks with regional winery groups throughout the Pacific Northwest, and has discussed management of industry-specific legal opportunities and pitfalls in presentations to the membership of the International Culinary Tourism Association.
Practice Highlights
Food and beverage
- Starbucks/Seattle's Best Coffee/Tazo Tea Co.: Establishing contractual gift packer programs for third-party distribution channels and negotiating its national foodservice distributor agreements (ongoing)
- Waterloo Restaurant Ventures (the largest domestic franchisee of Brinker International's Romano's Macaroni Grill brand): Development and implementation of comprehensive, multistate regulatory compliance and permitting program for 13 restaurants throughout the West Coast (ongoing)
Wine and alcoholic beverages
- Pacific Rim Winemakers: Serving as general counsel
- Laurelwood Brewing Company: Serving as general counsel and in the development and expansion of new facilities, including recent locations of their Laurelwood Public House & Brewery concept in concourses at Portland International Airport
- Willamette Valley Vineyards: Serving as general counsel, including disputes with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) involving privilege taxes, patent integrity and labeling (ongoing)
- Clear Creek Distillery: State and federal regulatory matters, liquor licensing/permitting and fire safety for its new urban distillery location (ongoing)
- Oregon Winegrowers Association: Serving as general counsel for all advocacy and legislative matters (ongoing)
- Carlton Winemakers Studio (the first multi-winery cooperative winemaking facility and shared tasting room in the nation): Serving as general counsel in the development and implementation of its strategic business and regulatory/liquor licensing plans (ongoing)
- Representing New York- and Pacific Northwest-based advertising and public relations firms in the analysis and development of multistate advertising and marketing programs and tasting events, in compliance with liquor laws in key markets nationwide, for their wine and beer industry clients (ongoing)
- Representing more than 100 other wine and alcoholic beverage industry clients, such as Wine by Joe, Winderlea Wine Company and Mateveza Ales as their general counsel for all regulatory and compliance matters
Agribusiness
- Represented Wallowa County, Oregon-based Goertzen Buckhorn Ranch LLC in wind power leasing agreements
- Served Oregon Rangeland Trust and Potato Variety Management Institute as outside general counsel
Selected Experience Oregon Rangeland Trust Ongoing Outside general counsel. Negotiate agricultural conservation easements with farm and ranch owners. International plant systems manufacturer Ongoing Provide counsel regarding multi-state environmental regulations compliance, including seed and fertilizer registration and labeling. Technology Crops International Ongoing Negotiated plant variety licenses with University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc., U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS). Negotiated contracts for associated crop production and processing. Rainsweet, Inc. 2009 Negotiated sale of frozen onion business unit and developed strategic alliance with Freeze Pack, Inc., of Pasco, Wash. Otley Bros. Inc. 2008 Negotiated lease with Columbia Energy Partners for the development and operation of wind turbines. Pryor Farms, Inc. 2008 Negotiated lease with RES North America for the development and operation of wind turbines. Bonny Doon Vineyard 2007 Represented vineyard in the corporate spinoff and winery development and licensing for its Pacific Rim Winemakers subsidiary in Washington state. Negotiate plant management and grape supply contracts. Laurelwood Brewing Company 2007 Assist with development and expansion of new facilities. Potato Variety Management Institute 2007 Negotiated global and domestic sublicensing and marketing agreements for potato varieties developed by researchers at the University of Idaho, Oregon State University, Washington State University and the United States Department of Agriculture. Ste. Michelle Wine Estates 2006 Acquisition of Dundee, Ore.-based Erath Vineyards Winery. Starbucks Coffee Company 2006 Represented Starbucks Coffee Co. in hot vending, distribution and licensing joint ventures with PepsiCo. Additional Qualifications Professional and Community Activities
- North America Vice-President, Agribusiness Practice Group, Lex Mundi Worldwide Association of Independent Law Firms
- General Counsel, Oregon Winegrowers Association
- Corporate Counsel, Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers
- Friends of Washington State University Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
- Advisory Committee, School of Hospitality Business Management, Washington State University
- National Board of Advisors, College of Business, Washington State University
- Guest Lecturer, Washington State University School of Hospitality & Business Management
- Past President, Agricultural Law Section, Oregon State Bar
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Professional Recognition
- Named as one of "America's Leading Lawyers for Business" in Food & Beverages: Alcohol (National) by Chambers USA, 2010
- “Industry Partner Award,” Oregon Wine Industry, 2006
- Named as one of the "Forty Under 40," Portland Business Journal, 2004
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Education J.D., George Mason University School of Law, 1998, with high honors
- Articles Editor, George Mason Law Review
- Kleinfeld Fellow of the Food and Drug Law Institute
M.S., Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, 1995 B.S., Agricultural Economics, Washington State University, 1992, cum laude | |