Sylvester and Browne Lawyers are one of Sydney's leading providers of liquor licensing, regulatory enforcement and litigation advice to members of the Liquor and Hospitality industries. Our clients include hotels/pubs, restaurants, Registered Clubs, nightclubs and Bottle Shops. We also provide specialist liquor licensing advice to one of the world's largest alcohol beverage companies.
Our experience in the liquor and hospitality industries allows us to provide legal and other services throughout New South Wales. Our services include;
- All new liquor licensing applications, removals, transfers and variations
- General advice on NSW Liquor Act and Regulations (incl. Sydney CBD Hot Zones)
- Preparation of Community Impact Statements, Plan of Management documents and Venue Risk Management Outlines
- Law enforcement liaison (incl. NSW Police, OLGR, Local Councils and the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA)
- Risk Assessments for all licensed premises addressing security requirements, CCTV, crime scene preservation, liquor promotions and undesirable liquor products.
Litigation Service & Support
In order to ensure you and your venue's legal rights, we offer specialised litigation and support services to our clients. These services include:
- Criminal defence advice and representation in all court jurisdictions in relation to liquor licensing breaches and other disciplinary proceedings commenced by the Police, Liquor & Gaming NSW or other Government regulatory enforcement agencies.
- Legal defence for prosecutions under the Local Government Act 1993 and the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979
- Attendance at on-premise audits conducted by Police and other regulatory enforcement agencies (incl. local councils)
- Written submissions to Local Councils, Police, OLGR and the ILGA
Other factors affecting licensed premises
In recent years, we have observed an upsurge in the number of civil damages and compensation claims made against many of our clients in the liquor industry. Whether your business is a pub, nightclub or restaurant, it is extremely important in this emerging litigious environment that owners/operators/managers are aware of the legal risks associated with operating your venue. Whilst claims for compensation or damages for injuries received within licensed premises continue to increase, we are starting to see an upsurge in both discrimination and defamation claims against venues. Interestingly, most businesses in the liquor industry would be unaware that their public liability insurance does not generally cover them for discrimination or defamation claims.
Examples of some common liquor licensing breaches that we have defended:
- Licensee permit intoxication
- Sale or supply of alcohol contrary to licence
- Failure to remove or transfer liquor licence
- Carrying liquor away from licensed premises outside trading hours
- Licensee not comply with conditions of licence
- Licensee fail to secure crime scene after violent incident
- Sale or supply of liquor to minors
