Businesses that manufacture, distribute, or sell alcoholic beverages in Texas must comply with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code and regulations enforced by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC). From licensing and permit applications to violation defense and comptroller audits, TABC attorneys help retailers, restaurants, bars, hotels, wholesalers, and manufacturers navigate one of the most heavily regulated industries in the state.
Griffith & Hughes PLLC Texas TABC Lawyer
Founding Attorney: Tim Griffith (Emeritus)
Managing Attorney: Ryan S. Hughes
Founded: 2006 (as Griffith Firm; renamed Griffith & Hughes in 2020)
Headquarters: Arlington, TX
Phone: (817) 562-9648
Toll-Free: (855) 682-1862
Email: info@griffithhughes.com
Website: griffithhughes.com
Office Location:
- Arlington: 2225 E Randol Mill Road, Suite 110 & 106, Arlington, TX 76011 | (817) 562-9648
The office is located in the same building as the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Office.
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Practice Areas: TABC Licensing and Permit Applications, TABC Violation Defense, TABC Emergency Suspension Orders, Dram Shop Defense (Liquor Liability Lawsuits), Safe Harbor Defense Assertions, Comptroller Mixed Beverage Sales Tax and Gross Receipt Tax Audits, TABC Food and Beverage Certificate Audits, City and County Alcohol Regulation and Ordinance Defense, Private Club Formation, Purchase and Sale of Businesses in the Alcohol Industry, TABC Application Protest Defense, Consumable Hemp Product Compliance
Firm Size: 3 licensed attorneys, plus licensing specialists and consultants. The team includes former TABC staff attorneys and a retired TABC enforcement officer with 36 years of law enforcement experience and a Master Peace Officer certification.
Fee Structure: Contact firm for fee information.
Languages: English
Clients Served: Alcoholic beverage retailers, convenience stores, package stores, restaurants, bars, hotels, alcohol wholesalers, alcohol manufacturers, entertainment industry businesses. The firm’s practice covers the entire state of Texas.
Key Team Members:
Tim Griffith, Founding Attorney (Emeritus): Earned his J.D. from South Texas College of Law in December 1990. Served as a staff attorney and prosecutor at the TABC from 1998 to 2006, where he prosecuted permit and license holders before county courts and the State Office of Administrative Hearings. During his agency tenure, he litigated $665,892 in civil penalties and was involved in the cancellation or denial of 128 permits. He litigated one of the largest civil penalties in TABC history: Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission v. Airport Marina Hotel Inc., SOAH Docket No. 458-04-6606 (May 11, 2005). After leaving the TABC, he founded Griffith Firm in 2006 and has since defended hundreds of clients before the TABC, the State Office of Administrative Hearings, county courts, and district courts on administrative appeal.
Ryan S. Hughes, Managing Attorney: Graduated from Texas Tech University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Business Administration and Management. Earned his J.D. from Texas A&M University School of Law in May 2016, where he was inducted into the legal honor society Phi Delta Phi. He joined the firm as an associate in 2016 and has practiced liquor law exclusively since. He has handled over 80 TABC hearings before the State Office of Administrative Hearings, including one of the only successful emergency suspension order hearings during the COVID-era shutdowns. He has successfully negotiated the reduction of multiple comptroller mixed beverage audit liability assessments by six-figure amounts. His scope of practice includes defending TABC violations and investigations, liquor licensing, Alcoholic Beverage Code compliance, dram shop defense, comptroller audits, private club formation, TABC application protest defense, and suing municipalities to compel certification of TABC applications.
Edgar M. Korzeniowski, Senior Associate Attorney: Has practiced liquor law exclusively since 2015. Before joining Griffith & Hughes, he served as a Senior Staff Attorney at the TABC for over five and a half years, where he provided training and legal counsel to the agency’s auditing, enforcement, and licensing divisions. He represented the TABC in administrative litigation of contested cases before SOAH and county judge protest hearings. Prior to his TABC career, he served as an Administrative Law Judge for the Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings for over three years, focusing on unemployment insurance eligibility determinations. He also spent nearly five years as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Grays Harbor County in Washington State. He holds a J.D. from Willamette University College of Law and a B.A. in Political Science and Music from the University of North Texas. He has presented at TABC continuing legal education seminars on topics including food and beverage certificate statutory changes and vicarious liability under the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code.
John T. Busby, Consultant: Served as a certified Texas peace officer for 36 years with a Master Peace Officer certification prior to his retirement from law enforcement. He spent 22 years as a state police officer in the TABC’s enforcement division, specializing in liquor law enforcement under the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code and administrative rules. He has been called upon as an expert witness in both civil and administrative cases, with a focus on liquor liability, the Dram Shop Act, and the Safe Harbor defense.
Tana Travis Kerss, Director of Licensing (not a licensed attorney): Oversees the firm’s TABC licensing and permit application operations.
Minnie Burks, Senior Licensing Specialist (not a licensed attorney): Phone: (817) 813-5148.
About the Firm: Griffith & Hughes PLLC is a Texas law firm that practices liquor law exclusively. The firm was founded in 2006 by Tim Griffith, a former TABC prosecutor, and was renamed from Griffith Firm to Griffith & Hughes in 2020. The firm has litigated over 400 TABC-related cases before the State Office of Administrative Hearings, county courts, district courts, and appellate courts throughout Texas. Two of the firm’s three attorneys are former TABC staff attorneys, and the firm employs a retired TABC enforcement officer with over two decades of agency experience as a consultant. This combination of prosecution-side and defense-side knowledge of the TABC’s internal processes, rules, and enforcement patterns is central to how the firm approaches case strategy. The firm handles the full lifecycle of alcohol business legal needs: new permit and license applications, ongoing compliance, violation defense, emergency suspension hearings, comptroller tax audits, dram shop litigation defense, city ordinance disputes, private club formation, and business transactions involving alcohol-licensed establishments. The firm also advises on emerging regulatory issues including the sale of consumable hemp-derived products under TABC jurisdiction and the recent requirement for electronic ID scanners for certain off-premise alcohol sales.
The manufacture, sale, distribution, transportation, and possession of alcoholic beverages in Texas is governed by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, as established under Section 1.06. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) is the regulatory agency responsible for issuing permits and licenses, conducting inspections and audits, and enforcing compliance across the state. Common TABC violations include sale to intoxicated persons, sale to minors, subterfuge, sale during prohibited hours, inspection refusal, and failure to report or prevent a breach of the peace. Businesses facing violations may assert the Safe Harbor Defense under TABC Rule Section 34.20(a), which must be invoked within 10 days of receiving a Notice of Violation. Penalties for violations range from fines and permit suspensions to full cancellation. TABC hearings are conducted before Administrative Law Judges at the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), with a proposal for decision typically issued within 60 days after the record closes under Texas Government Code Section 2001.143. Holders of food and beverage certificates must maintain alcohol sales below 60% of gross revenue or meet the statutory definition of a restaurant under Section 1.04(29) of the Alcoholic Beverage Code. The TABC Code generally preempts municipal regulation of alcohol under Section 109.57(b), with specific exceptions allowing cities and counties to regulate sales near schools, churches, hospitals, and childcare facilities.