Price, Postel & Parma LLP adds new Wine Attorney
The law firm of Price, Postel & Parma LLP is pleased to announce that preeminent wine lawyer Matthew T. Allen has joined the firm. His practice will center on the winery, vineyard, and agricultural industries, with his expertise applied to land use, business formation, real estate, licensing, and compliance. Based in Santa Barbara’s thriving wine country, PP&P is a full-service civil law firm—the oldest in the state of California—covering a broad array of practice areas, most notably business, water use, land use, estate planning, and taxation. The newly formed alliance between PP&P and Allen is representative of the Central Coast region’s ever-increasing presence in the wine community, both regionally and globally, and will allow both parties to better serve their valued clients. The firm has also opened a new, fully staffed office in Los Olivos, California.
“Matt Allen is a very fine lawyer with a very diverse and sophisticated clientele that has legal needs in a lot of different areas,” says Craig Parton, a partner with PP&P. “With a full-service firm behind him, he will be better able to address the diverse legal needs of the clients he has developed over his career in Santa Ynez Valley.”
As Central California’s wine landscape grows more fertile with each passing year, PP&P has noted an increasing need for authorities on legal concerns specific to wineries and vineyards. It’s a region that captured Allen’s attention when he first visited it nearly a decade ago, then as a partner at an Atlanta, Georgia, firm. Says Allen, “I was doing nothing related to wine at all in Atlanta. I came here, and I thought, ‘This is the most amazing place I’ve ever seen. I want to live here.’ There were a handful of lawyers doing wine law up in Napa, but there just weren’t very many on the Central Coast.”
Prior to joining PP&P, Allen ran his own thriving firm—The Law Office of Matthew T. Allen— though he is widely known as simply ‘The Wine Lawyer.’ From his offices in Los Olivos, California, a small town populated with numerous wineries, vineyards, and tasting rooms, Allen has helped clients throughout California and abroad with vineyard development, winery permitting, processing, and shipping, intellectual property, and real estate transactions.
“Wine is the only consumer product mentioned twice in the Constitution,” says Allen. “It’s a heavily regulated product, and every state has its own rules, which means there are many compliance and permitting issues that arise. That’s fairly unique to the wine industry, so there are only a handful of guys in California who have a handle on what each state requires. I’m one of them, and I really get a kick out of helping people, especially new wineries, get off the ground and seeing how excited they get about making wine and about the first vintage coming in. Even though we’re coming out of a recession, the wine industry has been very strong and stayed very strong; I think it’s a great fit for Price, Postel & Parma to grow into this area.”
Allen attended law school in Portland, Oregon, at Lewis & Clark Law School and received his undergraduate degree in History at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Before relocating to Santa Barbara County to specialize in wine law, he practiced law in Atlanta, Georgia.
About Price, Postel & Parma LLP
With the distinction of being the oldest law firm west of the Mississippi, Price, Postel & Parma LLP is the preeminent law firm in Santa Barbara, California, having served as trusted advisors since 1852. More than two-dozen attorneys provide full-service counsel, which ranges from advocating the land use and water rights of Santa Barbara County property to negotiating complex business litigation cases to sophisticated business transactions to helping a family gain peace of mind with estate planning. PP&P holds an unwavering commitment to understanding its clients’ needs, mastering and navigating the ever-changing legal and regulatory environment, and providing service that exceeds the expectations of even the most discerning clients. The firm’s deep roots in the community are evident as well in its attorneys’ dedicated service as directors and trustees of local charitable, philanthropic, and service organizations. More information about its practice areas, people, and community involvement is available at www.ppplaw.com.
Source: www.winebusiness.com