Dale A. Stern

Food & Ag

• Serves as general counsel to statewide and national trade associations and charitable foundations representing seed companies, wine grape growers, manufacturing and technology companies, pest control advisers and operators, food processors and retail grocers, having worked with many for more than 30 years.  He also represents many of the families and companies of all sizes who are members of these associations in their business activities, transactions and government relations.
• Regularly advises client associations on the development of policy positions in response to pending laws and regulations and challenging government actions that are adverse to clients’ interests. He also provides corporate, antitrust, employment, tax exempt and insurance coverage counsel to these associations and foundations.  Dale assists the members of trade association clients with obtaining and preserving licenses and permits when agencies seek to deny or revoke any of the various business licenses required to engage in the production, processing, marketing and retail sales of agricultural products in California.
• Drafts legislation and regulations favorable to clients’ interests, prepares and presents testimony in support and opposition to proposed rules, and advises clients on strategies for complying with, and lawfully avoiding burdensome regulatory provisions. By working with all three branches of government, he seeks to find cost effective solutions on behalf of clients.
• Works closely with litigators in the Food & Agriculture and Natural Resources practices to challenge unfavorable laws and regulations and to defend food industry stakeholders against aggressive attacks on their business practices, marketing efforts and food products.
• A published writer, Dale has served as an expert witness and regularly presents seminars on a variety of topics, including fiduciary duties of directors and officers of nonprofit organizations, and negotiating and drafting sales agreements for California agricultural commodities.

General Counsel

California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) – General Counsel since 1989 to nonprofit trade association representing grape growers and wineries

• Represented CAWG and Family Winemakers of California as an Intervenor in support of California Department of Food & Agriculture in Californians Against Toxic Substances et al. v. CDFA regarding statewide program to counter the devastating impacts of Glassy Winged Sharpshooter and Pierce’s Disease on the state’s multi-billion dollar wine industry.
• Negotiated and drafted agreements, including the formation of a Limited Liability Company, for the purchase and operation of the annual Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, the largest grape and wine trade show in the country
• Drafted and advocated for the passage of new legislation that provides additional assurances that California grape growers will be paid by the wineries that purchase their crop.
• Represents dozens of CAWG’s members, including some of the largest grape farming operations in the State in the negotiation and drafting of seasonal and long term contracts for the sale of wine grapes and wine.
• Represents many of the same grape growers in recovering payments from wineries, including enforcing Producers’ Liens and working with the CDFA Market Enforcement Branch to enforce state laws.

California Association of Pest Control Advisers (CAPCA) – General Counsel to nonprofit trade association representing licensed agricultural pest control advisers and operators

• Represents member companies and individuals in pesticide registration and PCA/PCO licensing matters.
• Drafts agreements for services to protect member companies.

Pest Control Operators of California (PCOC) – General Counsel to nonprofit trade association representing structural pest control companies

• Represented PCOC in wrongful termination and member grievance litigations.
• Negotiated and drafted legislative and regulatory amendments improving licensing terms and conditions for industry members.
• Represent numerous member companies and their qualifying managers in licensing actions before the Structural Pest Control Board, California Department of Food and Agriculture and California Department of Pesticide Regulation.
• California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA) – General Counsel to nonprofit association representing regional, national, and international companies engaged in a broad spectrum of manufacturing and technology industries.

California League of Food Producers (CLFP) – General Counsel to nonprofit trade association representing canners, dryers and processors of agricultural products

• Represent CLFP in legislative and regulatory matters, including food safety, labeling and Prop 65.
• Represent tomato, fruit and nut processing companies, including Fortune 500 companies, in transactions for the purchase of raw agricultural products and the sale of finished food products.

California Grocers Association (CGA) – General Counsel since 1990 to nonprofit trade association representing closely held and publicly traded retail grocery companies, wholesalers and suppliers

• Drafted and negotiated dozens of legislative bills and regulations relating to all aspects of the warehousing, transportation and retail sales of grocery products in California.
• Working with litigation team, challenged many statewide and local laws and ordinances that adversely impacted CGA members.
• Conceived, incorporated and represent related California Grocers Association Educational Foundation, and three for-profit subsidiaries of CGA.
• Represent numerous member retailers and suppliers in wide variety of regulatory matters, including weights and measures, hazardous material handling, employee retention ordinances, Prop 65, food safety and labeling, ABC licensing, and emergency preparedness matters.

California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA) – General Counsel to nonprofit trade association representing a broad spectrum of manufacturing and technology companies

• Provide general counsel services ranging from updating corporate documents to employment and litigation counseling.
• Negotiated and drafted agreements relating to office space, service contractors and consultants.
• Advise board members on fiduciary duties of volunteer directors and compliance with state and federal laws.
• Provide general counsel services to related charitable foundation and wholly-owned for-profit subsidiary.

Announcements

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In the News

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Speaking Engagements / Events

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Legal Alerts

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Publications

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Dale strongly believes in the availability of a diverse, wholesome and well-balanced supply of food and fiber produced as near to consumers as reasonably possible.  The last several decades have seen the urbanization of California in a direction away from its agrarian roots. The resulting lack of awareness about the importance of a reliable, cost-effective food supply has contributed to an explosion of regulations that severely challenge the sustainability of the state’s farmers, ranchers, shippers, food processors, retailers and their supporting business partners.

Leveraging decades of experience in corporate and nonprofit law, Dale Stern’s practice encompasses the breadth of issues facing food industry associations and their related foundations, as well as family-owned and other closely held for-profit business organizations. Dale is a trusted counselor to industry trade associations, cooperatives, corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, and sole proprietorships throughout the state.

As outside general counsel, Dale has become intimately familiar with the business issues of many of the firm’s nonprofit clients to better serve them and help them accomplish their goals. Dale assists clients in the selection and formation of the business organization that best suits the client’s needs. He guides trade associations through the processes of incorporation, obtaining tax-exempt status, and all aspects of operations, including mergers and dissolutions. He is often called upon to offer strategic legal advice as well as to negotiate and document specific transactions, including membership agreements, buy-sell agreements, lease agreements, and independent contractor relationships. Dale also assists clients with legal issues they encounter regarding ongoing operational and legal compliance questions, including regulatory compliance, periodic bylaw revisions, business licensing, employment and staffing issues, and the fiduciary obligations of officers and directors of trade associations.

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Experience

• Formed and represented dozens of food industry nonprofit corporations as outside general counsel, some continuously for over 30 years.
• Guided statewide nonprofit trade associations through complex employment matters.
• Formed and helped guide the operations of several for-profit subsidiaries wholly owned by nonprofit trade associations.
• Drafted hundreds of bylaw revisions or replacements, including guiding the nonprofit organization through the membership approval process and, where appropriate, approval of the amendments by the IRS.
• Represented numerous member-owned country clubs in their corporate and transactional operations, including bylaw revisions, membership agreements, capital improvements, liability exposure analyses, and transfer of management responsibilities to third-party management firms.
• Formed new business entities and drafted partnership and limited liability agreements for farming and food manufacturing companies, and retail grocery companies.
• Formed limited liability company to purchase and operate the largest wine industry tradeshow in California.
• Formed and represented agricultural cooperatives covering commodities, including dairy products, dates, tree nuts, farm equipment, and agricultural chemicals.
• On behalf of several family-owned businesses, negotiated and drafted buy-sell agreements, including noncompetition provisions.
• Negotiated and drafted complex merger agreements for two statewide trade associations serving the grocery industry.

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Professional, Community And Pro Bono Involvement

• California Polytechnic State University, Pomona, College of Agriculture, Dean’s Advisory Council, Chair, 2010-2019
• Western Growers Association
• Napa Valley Grapegrowers
• California Lawyers Association
• California Association of Pest Control Advisors
• American Agricultural Law Association
• American Society of Association Executives
• Provides frequent seminars on the fiduciary duties of volunteer directors of nonprofit corporations.
• Dale has been a frequent lecturer/speaker for the California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) since 1996.  Many district grower associations (e.g. Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Suisun Valley, Livermore Valley, Paso Robles, San Joaquin, Amador, El Dorado, San Joaquin, and Temecula) will partner with CAWG to conduct a “Smart Marketer” seminar for growers and wineries in their area. Topics are usually negotiating and drafting wine grape purchase and sale agreements, enforcing the California Producers’ Lien law, collecting from wineries that pay slowly or not at all, and complying with the California Department of Food & Agriculture’s Processor Law.
• Dale has also spoken and served on panels covering the same topics for the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium educational sessions during the annual industry trade show in January of each year in Sacramento.

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Honors & Rankings

• AV Preeminent^® Rating by Martindale-Hubbell^®
• Sacramento Business Journal, Best of the Bar, 2015, 2017
• Sacramento Magazine, Top Lawyer, Legislative & Government Affairs, Nonprofit Organizations, Food & Agriculture Law, 2015-2023
• California Polytechnic State University, Pomona, College of Agriculture, 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award Winner