Category: Cases

About: Born to a milk-making family, Amy Rowbottom makes artisanal cheeses at her company, Crooked Face Creamery. Based in Norridgewock, Maine, the creamery’s signature cheese is her cold-smoked Applewood Smoked Ricotta. Amy sells her award-winning cheeses, which are made with limited ingredients and without preservatives, at farmers’ markets, specialty shops, and farm-to-table restaurants across Maine.

Legal Need: As the business has grown – the creamery now has about 40 wholesale accounts in Maine, as well as two distributors – Amy sought legal help in protecting her products and her brand.

Lawyer: The Legal Food Hub matched Amy with attorney David B. McConnell of Perkins Thompson. David has an active practice in trademark and copyright issues and brings a wealth of knowledge to assist Crooked Face Creamery with its intellectual property needs.

About: Fresh Food Generation is a Boston-based farm-to-plate food truck and catering company that serves healthy, affordable prepared food inspired by Latin and Caribbean cuisine across Boston. In addition to its food truck and catering business, Fresh Food Generation also boasts a café located at a community health center in Dorchester. The company is dedicated to serving low-income neighborhoods, and co-founders Cassandria Campbell and Jackson Renshaw take a local approach to the business by hiring from the communities served by the food truck and sourcing ingredients from local suppliers.

Legal Need: Poised to receive sizeable investments, Cassandria and Jackson sought assistance in reviewing and negotiating the terms of the investment agreements.

Lawyer: The Legal Food Hub matched Cassandria and Jackson with Josh Fox at WilmerHale. The Legal Food Hub had previously matched Fresh Food Generation with Josh to create an operating agreement and advise regarding a term sheet for a possible investment. With his strong background in advising entrepreneurs and startups, Josh has been able to assist Fresh Food Generation with its legal needs.

About: Freedom Food Farm is an 88-acre organic-certified farm in Raynham, Massachusetts, that produces a wide variety of produce, herbs, eggs, grains, honey, and pasture-raised meat. Chuck Currie and Marie Kaziunas started the farm in 2012, and they strive to provide nutritious food using holistic practices such as cover-cropping and field rotation. Freedom Food Farm has a CSA and sells at farmers’ markets around the region.

Legal Need: Chuck and Marie sought legal assistance through the Legal Food Hub when the land they leased was sold to new owners. They wanted assistance in reviewing and negotiating the terms of the new operating agreement to ensure the farm would have a smooth transition.

Lawyer: The Legal Food Hub matched Chuck and Marie with attorneys Jasmine Haddad and Robert Burke of WilmerHale. Both Jasmine and Robert are experienced in business law, making them well-positioned to help with advising regarding an operating agreement that will provide stability for the farm’s future.

About: Jeff Casel is taking over Stone Wall Dairy Farm in Cornwall, Connecticut, through a lease-to-own agreement. The farm, which Jeff renamed Calf & Clover Creamery, produces raw milk, eggs, and vegetables without antibiotics, synthetic hormones, or pesticides. In the future, Jeff wants to expand his dairy production to include yogurt, chocolate milk, and ice cream.

Legal Need: Jeff wanted to enter into a lease-to-own agreement with a farmland investor, who planned to purchase the currently operating dairy farm and then lease it to Jeff. The structure of the transaction would allow the current farmer to get a retirement income and would keep the farmland in production as Jeff smoothly transitions to ownership.

Lawyer: The Legal Food Hub matched Jeff with attorney Brian Fischer. With Brian’s experience in financing transactions, he was the perfect fit to help Jeff become a farm owner.

About: All Farmers supports autonomous groups of refugee and immigrant farmers in western Massachusetts in accessing land, training, and resources. The organization’s work supports over 60 families’ ability to farm; half of what the farmers grow feeds their families directly. All Farmers understands the barriers immigrant and refugee farmers face, including structural racism, language and cultural barriers, and limited financial resources. The organization works to ensure the farmers can succeed despite these challenges.

Legal Need: All Farmers sought fiscal sponsorship from an existing nonprofit organization. Fiscal sponsorship can provide an opportunity for newly formed nonprofits to apply for grants and benefit from the sponsor’s administrative capacity without going through the lengthy and difficult process of gaining 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

Lawyer: The Legal Food Hub matched All Farmers with attorney Sarah McGarrell at Pierce Atwood. Sarah’s experience organizing businesses and charitable organizations and her strong interest in supporting a vibrant local food system made her the perfect fit to assist All Farmers.

About: Logan Higger is a beginning farmer and butcher who recently purchased a 200-year-old farm in Jefferson, Maine. He has started to raise animals including pigs, chickens, and sheep on the property. He processes his livestock into culinary meats and sells it through his butchery business, Sowbelly Butchery, at local farmers’ markets. Logan also hosts butchery workshops throughout Maine. He hopes to develop more educational programs and wholesale availability on the farm.

 Legal Issue: Logan sought legal assistance with entity formation for the farm.

Lawyer: The Legal Food Hub matched Sowbelly Butchery with attorney Ian Green of Perkins Thompson. Ian brought a particular focus on offering practical legal advice to businesses. He was able to help Logan form an LLC for the farm, designate ownership of the LLC’s property, and create waivers necessary to host workshops. Logan found Ian to be an invaluable resource in starting his small business.

About: Farm Fresh Rhode Island is a non-profit 501(c)3 founded in 2004. The organization’s mission is to grow a local food system that values the environment, health, and quality of life for farmers and eaters of Rhode Island.  Goals include, preserving Rhode Island farmland, building healthier communities, strengthening RI community-based businesses, increasing access to fresh food, and improving the impact of food production and distribution on the environment.  Their programming ranges across areas, from access, to education, and distribution, and includes: farmers markets, market mobile produce aggregator and distribution system, Harvest Kitchen providing training and employment for youth from DCYF’s Juvenile Justice Corrections Services, bonus bucks SNAP incentives, Veggie Box subscriptions, farm to school programming, education and access programming for low-income seniors. Farm Fresh is an integral component of the Rhode Island food system.

Legal Issue: Farm Fresh came to the Legal Food Hub seeking legal assistance to review labor and employment policies and practices and ensure that they are up to speed on future expected changes in the law.

The Relationship: The Legal Food Hub connected Farm Fresh RI with labor and employment attorneys at Nixon Peabody to provide guidance as Farm Fresh RI works on updating employee handbooks and makes plans for its future practices.  Nixon Peabody’s Rhode Island office has special expertise in employment law, so it was a perfect fit, ensuring that Farm Fresh, an important organization supporting Rhode Island’s food system, receives the legal support it needs.

Background: Kelly and her husband, Anil, founded Pumpkin Vine Family Farm in Somerville, ME in 2008, keeping six-generation farmland in production and building a beloved resource for their community. The farm produces milk and cheese from its purebred goats and cows, as well as pastured pork, hay, garlic, and daffodils, and hopes to begin an apprenticeship program to help educate a new generation of farmers. The family also hosts three weeks of farm camp each summer, inviting children ages 4–10 to come and learn about plants and animals while helping with farm chores and other related activities.

Legal Need 1: Kelly and Anil are planning to hire employees and contacted the Legal Food Hub for help in reviewing their personnel policy and employment application and to ensure that they are in compliance with other employment-related requirements.

The Relationship: The Legal Food Hub connected Kelly and Anil with Rudman Winchell’s Anne-Marie Storey, who specializes in employment and human resources law. With her extensive experience in small businesses’ hiring and labor issues, Pumpkin Vine Family Farm now ready to hire their first employee.

Legal Need 2: Kelly’s husband, Anil, was the sole proprietor of Pumpkin Vine Family Farm, and the two sought legal assistance in forming an LLC together. They also needed legal review of the camp registration form and medical treatment authorization forms to ensure that they and their campers were fully protected.

The Relationship: The Legal Food Hub connected Kelly and Anil with Beth Boepple at BCM Environmental Land Law, who assisted them with forming an LLC and ensured that their forms were comprehensive and protective.

About: Myranda has been experimenting with and making her own almond milk for over 15 years, constantly tweaking her recipes and testing them on willing friends. Now, Myranda is slated to begin producing her sprouted almond milks at Fork Food Lab in Portland, ME, with the goal of providing the state of Maine with the highest-quality almond milk. In addition to her organic almonds, she will use locally-grown strawberries and blueberries in her flavored almond milks and plans to later produce milk from local grains, as well.

Legal Need: Myranda contacted the Legal Food Hub for assistance with forming a single member LLC and trademarking her business name, The Whole Almond.

The Relationship: Legal Food Hub connected Myranda with Andrew Kraus at Opticliff Law. Andrew specializes in trademark law and startup business strategy, and with his help, Myranda is off on strong legal footing.

Background: In 2008, with no suitable traditional farmland available and inspired by WWII victory gardens, Kate Canney started farming in eleven private backyards in Needham, MA. She later leased five acres, which allowed her to greatly expand production, and The Neighborhood Farm now sells its produce at farmers’ markets, through a CSA, and to restaurants in the greater Boston area. With the farm’s increasing success, Boston.com highlighted the farm’s early years, and FarmAid named Kate a Farmer Hero in 2013. Now, after several seasons of searching, Kate is moving her entire operation to a single location and plans to expand her production while remaining deeply embedded in her local community.

Legal Need: Kate sought legal assistance through the Legal Food Hub to review the lease with Mainstone Farm in Wayland, where The Neighborhood Farm will be relocating. She also sought advice about and assistance with transitioning the business from a general partnership to an LLC with her wife, Jude.

The Relationship: Legal Food Hub matched Kate with Archstone Law Group’s Lori Yarvis, who is deeply experienced in providing general counsel services to startup businesses and food industry companies. With Lori’s help, the new iteration of The Neighborhood Farm is off to a great start with a written lease and business entity.

Background: Irene Beauregard and her business partner, Kathan Teepe, have been planning to start a farm for the past two years.  They plan to farm using organic practices, growing vegetables and flowers.  They are still in the beginning stages of starting their own farm business, and while they had spent time on important steps such as developing their business plan and actively seeking out farmland for lease, they had yet to make one of the most important decisions of all: creating a business entity and formalizing their own partnership agreement.

Legal Need: Irene and Kathan were in need of legal assistance to 1) create a partnership agreement between the two of them, and 2) advise them on what type of business structure they should choose, and then help with formation of that entity.

The Relationship: Legal Food Hub matched Irene and Kathan with Everett Petronio at Kalander & Shaw.  Everett brought a wealth of knowledge through his work helping small and start-up businesses, and given his extensive experience mentoring entrepreneurs, he was a perfect fit to help these young farmers start their business.  He guided Irene and Kathan through the incorporation process, making Sweet Pea Farm, LLC, a reality.

Background: Stuart White began raising pigs in 1974 at White’s Farm in Winterport, Maine. At a time when most people didn’t give much thought to where their food came from, Stuart’s pigs were eating a grain-free diet of roots, native plants and other forage and were raised without antibiotics or growth hormones.  As interest in healthier, local food grew, Stuart began raising pigs for his friends and an ever-expanding community of health conscious eaters.  At present, 300 pigs roam freely on 90 acres of farmland where they continue to eat a natural and additive free diet.  Stuart sells whole and half pigs as well as additional value-added products such as sausages directly to consumers.

Legal Issue:  Stuart and his partner Yasmin Kun contacted the Hub to seek assistance in forming an LLC for White’s Farm.

The Relationship:  The Legal Food Hub matched Stuart and Yasmin with attorney Paige Streeter at Libby O’Brien Kingsley & Campion.  White’s Farm is now an LLC and customers who appreciate the tremendous work and commitment that Stuart puts into raising pigs can continue to enjoy the products they love.