Jerry has a wealth of experience assisting businesses and individuals in liquor licensing matters.

For five years, Jerry served as the Chairman of the Connecticut Liquor Control Commission, in his capacity as Commissioner of Consumer Protection. As Chairman and Commissioner, Jerry worked with the Liquor Control staff, overseeing the licensing of 8,000 liquor-related businesses, the interpretation of the state Liquor Control laws and regulations, and the enforcement of those laws and regulations. His service as Chairman gives him incredible insight and practical knowledge that he now uses in assisting clients who are applying for new liquor licenses, appearing before the Liquor Control Commission as a result of enforcement action, or answering questions on business practices.

In addition to his service as Chairman, Jerry has been an attorney in Connecticut for more than 20 years. His abilities as an attorney assisting liquor-related businesses include helping businesses in incorporating, navigating local Planning and Zoning regulations, and complying with other state and local laws.

Jerry also served on Wallingford’s Town Council for 16 years, where he helped to enact several municipal ordinances which apply to liquor-related businesses.

In addition to his background as an attorney and former Liquor Control Commission Chairman, Jerry brings a lot of practical perspective to his work with clients involved in liquor-related businesses. Because members of his family currently have, or have had in the past, liquor-related businesses, Jerry understands Connecticut’s liquor laws not only from a legal and administrative perspective, but on a very personal level.

Many of Connecticut’s current liquor laws were crafted in relation to the institution of Prohibition in Connecticut in 1919 and its repeal in 1933. Jerry’s family saw that “experiment” on both ends. His Italian great-grandfather Michael Audisio had a saloon license, good for three years, which he lost two years prematurely, when Prohibition was enacted in 1919. The loss of that license, and of his great-grandfather’s livelihood, was financially devastating to the family. On the paternal side, the end of Prohibition in 1933 meant that Jerry’s Irish great-uncle, John “Red” Farrell, could open a bar in New Haven, the well-known “Farrell’s Bar” on Dixwell Avenue, in business for decades.

More recently, Jerry has worked with his cousins in Italy, who are in the wine business and have sought his advice in importing their products to the United States.

As your guide to Connecticut’s liquor licensing laws, Jerry brings a practical perspective on why laws were enacted, how they are interpreted – and how they affect you as the holder of a liquor license.