Taking the Stand in Defense of Wine Shipping

"Mr Wark, is it true you are an idiot and know nothing about wine shipping?"

Yesterday was Deposition Day.

The lawsuit is Freehan v. Berg, a case in which an out-of-state wine retailer is challenging Illinois’ discriminatory law that allows in-state wine stores to ship wine to Illinois consumers, but bans the same from out-of-state wine stores. I’m one of the expert witnesses for the retailer and consumer plaintiffs in the case.

Prior to today, I submitted my expert report in this case. The report used data, studies, and my own 33 years of experience in this industry to make the case that 1) bans on shipments from out-of-state retailers significantly limit consumer choice, 2) there are no examples of harm to the health and safety of consumers that result from DTC shipments, 3) the three-tier system is not implicated in nor impacted by DTC retailer shipments, and 4) minors don’t utilize DTC shipments to obtain alcohol.

If you have never been deposed as an expert witness, the goal of the attorney from the other side questioning you is to demonstrate that 1) you are an idiot, 2) your expert opinion is nothing of the sort and 3) your opinion is bought and paid for. As you can imagine, it’s not particularly enjoyable.

What’s interesting about this particular deposition is that the entire line of questioning was carried out not by attorneys for the state of Illinois, who are the defendants. Instead, it was attorneys for the Wine & Spirit Distributors of Illinois that will be questioning my right to exist.