Nicholas A. Ramos

Nick helps clients with all aspects of their federal, state, and local regulatory compliance programs. He works with brand owners, manufacturers, importers, exporters, distributors/wholesalers, and retailers (including online retailers), ranging from emerging growth ventures to established global companies entering the U.S. market for the first time, and global companies established in the U.S. introducing new products into the U.S. market.

Nick guides clients through federal, state, and local licensure, permitting, and excise tax processes, helping them understand the risks and benefits of complex and innovative business models. He also advises on activities impacting his clients’ day-to-day operations, such as requirements related to pre-market authorizations, new or amended product registrations or labels, novel advertising and marketing plans, and on the regulatory risks of key business transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions, and options for mitigating risks.

Drawing from his deep familiarity with laws and regulatory requirements enforced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and other federal, state, and local agencies, Nick assists clients with building and managing national compliance programs. His work includes helping clients effectively manage and respond to the entire range of federal, state, and local governmental and agency enforcement actions, inquiries, and demands, including state excise taxation audits and requests related to excise taxes and associated licenses. Nick also regularly assists clients with conducting confidential internal investigations.

Before becoming an attorney, Nick served in the U.S. Army in a variety of leadership positions within conventional and special operations forces. His various assignments included combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nick regularly provides commentary and analysis on legal developments affecting his clients on the Regulatory Oversight and Tobacco Law blogs.

• Counsel a global alcoholic beverage company on state licensing requirements for new products and facilities; legal restrictions on relationships with distributors and retailers; innovative advertising, marketing, promotions, and sponsorship plans; and other trade practices.
• Assist breweries and wineries with obtaining direct-to-consumer state permits in multiple states and advise on ongoing requirements related to those permits.
• Counsel convenience and grocery stores on state requirements related to the third-party delivery of alcohol and tobacco products to consumers, including through the use of innovative mobile apps.
• Advise consumer product and food distributors on state tobacco product licensing and excise tax implications of storage and redistribution operations in various states.
• Assist tobacco product and nicotine manufacturers with establishing new factories in the U.S. for the domestic sale and/or export of the companies’ products, including obtaining TTB/state permits, FDA registrations, and applicability of other FDA requirements or federal excise taxes for exports.
• Advise tobacco product and nicotine manufacturers on compliance with TTB and state tobacco licensing, reporting, tax, online and in-person marketing practices, and Master Settlement Agreement requirements.
• Advise tobacco product and nicotine manufacturers on FDA premarket authorization requirements for the sale of their products in the U.S. and assist with postmarket authorization reporting requirements.
• Advise importers of tobacco and nicotine products on requirements related to the importation, storage in bonded warehouses or foreign trade zones, and sale of their products via duty-free channels.
• Counsel an international cigar manufacturer and internet retailer on all aspects of creating and operating a compliant retail premium cigar website including compliance with tobacco licensing, excise tax, delivery sale, advertising, and promotions laws.
• Advise cannabis vaporizer device and accessory companies on compliance with state licensing and excise tax laws.
• Advise a foreign liquor brand owner on options for selling its product direct to consumers in the U.S.
• Advise nonprofit organizations on auctioning, raffling, or gifting alcoholic beverages for charity.
• Assist cannabis extraction process patent owner with valuing its patents and creating a strategy for enforcing its patents against other cannabis companies.
• Assisted a large utility company with an internal investigation related to a company bidding process for the purchase of new equipment.
• Represented an international e-cigarette retailer in responding to a Civil Investigative Demand issued pursuant to a state unfair trade practices law.
• Advised an international tobacco product company on responding to a tobacco tax audit request.
• Assisted a cannabis vaporizer device company in responding to a state agency inquiry related to whether its innovative products were subject to the state’s tobacco licensing and excise tax laws.