Current Processing times for retail liquor licensesare nearly 6 months. After mailing an application it is about 4-5 weeks beforea filing receipt is received. Then there is about 20 weeks additional time examiningprocessing the application until a license issue. If there is a 500-foothearing, or the application needs to go to the Full Board at a public meeting,an additional 1-3 months is added to the processing time.

            Our team is often asked what can bedone to shorten this processing time. First and foremost, file completeapplications. Leaving questions blank and not including required documents willslow down the time to issuance (typically by 1-3 weeks for each deficiencyissued by the Examiner).

            What else can an applicant do to geta license faster? Attorney self-certification can speed up the time to getyour license. This process allows a licensed attorney to review the applicationand supporting documents at a deeper level to certify that the contents meetthe criteria for a license, and are accurate and complete. This process putsthe application on a “fast track” at the Authority because an Officer of the Courthas done much of the review the Authority licensing staff would do. This is abig responsibility and liability for the certifying attorney and will likelyincur a commensurate additional service fee. It also requires the attorney topersonally visit the licensed premises and “inspect” it to certify theapplication and supporting documents are accurate.

            When processing times are 8-10weeks, attorney self-certification may not be a cost effective service. But inthe current environment where licenses are not issuing for nearly 6 months frommailing the application, this option deserves serious consideration.

            Not all attorneys and law firmsoffer this service (often due to malpractice limitations or firm policy) solook for an industry professional like Tracy Jong who offers this service.

            Then do the math. Does it makeeconomic sense to pay for attorney self-certification? What are the applicant’scosts for the delay? Compare that to the cost for attorney certificationservices and make a good business decision. Considering rent only (and not lostrevenues), let’s look at two examples:

Example 1.) NYCmonthly rent of $8,500 = $230/day

            RentCost for one month delay = $8,500

            Rent Cost for two month delay =$17,000    

Cost for attorney certification =$5,000.

Rent savings and Economic Benefit ifone month faster = $3,500

Rent savings and Economic Benefit iftwo months faster = $12,000

Clearly, attorney certificationservices would be a worthwhile investment in this situation.

Example 2.) Rural Monthly rent of $1,000

            RuralCost for one month delay = $1,000

            RuralCost for two month delay = $2,000

            Costfor attorney certification = $1,500

Rent savings and Economic benefit forone month faster = $0

Rent savings and Economic benefit iftwo months faster = $500

            Attorneycertification services may not be a worthwhile investment in this situationunless the lost revenues change the equation.

Example 3.) Assume Rent in Example 2

            Ifanticipated revenues were $2,000 per week, then the economic benefit for onemonth would be $7,500 and for two months $16,000. This might make sense to useattorney certification services.

            Onlylicensed attorneys can offer this service. While non-attorneys offer licenseapplication consulting, they may not be the best option if you need to fasttrack your application. It may initially appear to be a cost-savings, but whenyou consider what is at stake, this may not be the place to “go cheap”,especially when they can’t offer attorney certification services.

            Attorneyself-certification must be requested at the time of filing and can’t be done ata later point. Our team also has taken over applications prepared by thesenon-attorney consultants to try to “save” poorly prepared applications fromdenial. It is alarming, and sad. These consultants don’t have malpracticecoverage so there is little recourse to the client who was poorly served (aka“screwed”). Using us from inception would have saved the client $1,000-$2,500and 1-3 months!

            If“time is money” in your situation, explore attorney self-certification as anoption to expedite your application.