Legal Insight and Litigation

Our Top Ten: Ten McBrayer Blogs that Capture the Year that Was

Our McBrayer blogs run the gamut of practice areas, so it’s no surprise that the ten most popular blogs on our site for the 2018 calendar year reflect the full span of our reach.  It’s also no surprise that the vast majority of these blogs respond to new and exciting changes in the law. Drumroll, please…

Hospitality Law Changes See the Most Interest

Our two most popular blogs this year were updates on legislative activity in the area of hospitality law. Steve Amato authored both blogs on events that changed the face of alcoholic beverage regulation in Kentucky.  “Hospitality Law Update 2018, Vol. I” discussed HB 136, a bill designed to provide a more friendly regulatory environment for microbreweries by easing restrictions on them. These restrictions were standard features of Kentucky’s traditional three-tier system, which is a method of tightly regulating alcoholic beverages along clearly-delineated lines of production, distribution and retail sales. Smaller craft beverage operations such as microbreweries are often stymied by these systems, which are made mostly to keep larger producers in check. HB 136, signed into law, frees these small producers from regulatory hurdles in distribution and retail sales while simultaneously lowering a wholesale tax.

Another hospitality issue discussed this year was a proposed regulation that would repeal all existing regulations concerning a quota licensing system; a system that limits the number of certain types of retail sale licenses in Kentucky. The legislature fought this regulation with a bill of its own, SB 110, discussed in “Hospitality Law Update 2018, Vol. II.” This bill preserved and codified the quota licensing system, effectively overturning the earlier push for deregulation in this area.

An even more impactful development discussed in that blog is the direct shipping of alcohol from Kentucky distilleries. Prohibited until now, direct shipping became available from Kentucky distilleries and small farm wineries to anywhere, in or out of state, where direct shipping of alcohol to consumers is legal. Direct shipping to Kentucky residents from out-of-state producers is now available as well.

A Growing Form of Estate Planning

Our recent Estate Planning blog “Revocable Trusts: An Alternative Route” also sat near the top of the list of most read blogs this year. A revocable trust is an alternative to a traditional will as an estate plan. The revocable trust has many advantages over a will, such as an end-run around probate and a high degree of privacy. More individuals planning their estates are choosing revocable trusts as an estate planning vehicle, and the topic remains popular in our blogs and beyond.

Sharing the Road with Cyclists

This year, Kentucky made it easier for cyclists to share the road with drivers, and our attorneys outlined the basics of the new law, HB 33, in “How to Share the Road: New Kentucky Law Strives to Make Roadways Safer for Cyclists.” Drivers now have to pass cyclists with not less than three feet of space, and there are other rules about changing lanes before passing to give cyclists more space. This law may protect cyclists, but it is of interest to insurance carriers now as well, as it sets a new standard of care for drivers when dealing with cyclists in the state.

Timely Topics

Both Jack Wheat and Bill George tapped into the cultural zeitgeist with their additions to this list. Mr. Wheat’s contribution, “Court in Copyright Case: Don’t Embed that Tweet!” is a legal parable for modern times, focusing on the copyright issues arising from embedding a tweet that uses a stolen photograph from an Instagram account. You can practically taste the hashtags on this story, but it’s another in a long series of cases trying to pin down who owns the copyright to what content in an age of instantaneous and widespread sharing.

Bill George flies in another hot topic with “How to Keep Recreational Pilots Droning On and On.” If you’re looking for a lighter than air topic with this one, however, you’re on the wrong flight plan. It’s a safe bet that the vast majority of parents about to provide their children with new drones under the tree aren’t aware of the various laws and regulations that apply. Mr. George’s blog should be a primer for anyone wishing to keep their drone hobbyist from winding up in violation of federal law.

The Full Service Potpourri

Courtney Hampton spent 2018 happily busting “Five Common Misconceptions about Divorce,” while Kathryn Eckert discussed the concept of liability in equine test drives in “Kentucky Equine Liability: When the Potential Buyer Takes a Tumble.”  Kyle Virgin talked a bit of inside baseball while explaining “Pre-Trial Challenges to Experts in Professional Liability Cases: Sometimes the Best Strategy is Not to Play,” and Doug Logsdon rounded out our top ten blogs of the year explaining the new bankruptcy rules now in effect in…well…”New Bankruptcy Rules in Effect.”

Our blogs are an important part of our continued commitment to our clients, providing insight and education into changes in the law, as well as a reasoned reaction to these changes. To all those who have looked to our blogs for the latest and most relevant information over the years, we thank you, and we promise to continue making client engagement and education a priority. See you in 2019!

Brian S. Powers, Esq., is a legal writer and content editor in the McBrayer marketing department. He can be reached at bpowers@mcbrayerfirm.com or (859) 551-3627. The foregoing is intended to be a survey of federal and state law and regulation and does not constitute legal advice.

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