TRA Law Center

The TRA Law Center empowers restaurants to avoid legal trouble and respond appropriately when legal questions arise. By combining complimentary legal consultations, legal advocacy with National’s Restaurant Law Center and other partners, and legal resources, the TRA Law Center ensures members have the support they need to navigate complex regulations and thrive.

Legal Consultations
TRA members qualify for up to three, complimentary 15-minute legal consultations a year with licensed attorneys in Texas who understand the hospitality industry. If you have a question or concern related to employment and HR laws, real estate, immigration, permitting, or another matter, please use the intake form below to utilize this exclusive member benefit. 

Not a TRA member? Please visit our Join Now page for more information, or email [email protected] with any questions. 

Request a Legal Consultation

Once you submit the intake form, a member of our team will connect you via email to one of our TRA Law Center partners. We are proud to work with the following legal experts:
 

Led by managing partner Jacob Monty, Monty & Ramirez LLP is a law firm focused on the representation of employers in matters involving employment, labor, and immigration compliance issues. The firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas, but its practice extends throughout Texas and the nation. As a minority and women-owned law firm, our diverse legal team has the necessary experience to handle the varied employment and immigration needs of our clients. Learn more about Jacob Monty and Monty & Ramirez LLP here.


Carrington Coleman is a full-service law firm with significant experience in hospitality corporate matters, permitting (including alcohol issues), real estate and construction, contract negotiation and review, acquisition and sale of assets and inventory, financing, compliance, and crisis handling and preparation. We understand that the ownership, leasing, construction, and operation of your business is a hospitality matter with numerous special and subtle considerations. Carrington Coleman’s Hospitality Industry Group is co-chaired by John Gessner, a former President and Chairman of the TRA and a former general counsel for several restaurant development companies. Learn more about John Gessner and Carrington Coleman here. 




Alicia Sienne Voltmer is a Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig who advises employers, from start-up companies to Fortune 500s, in a wide variety of employment matters and has handled client mediations, arbitrations, administrative hearings, and court proceedings involving state and federal laws including the ADA, ADEA, EPA, ERISA, FLSA, FMLA, OSHA, NLRA, Title VII, the TCHRA, the OWBPA, and other laws. Alicia is Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, AV® Preeminent® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubble®, and listed in Chambers USA Guide for Labor and Employment (2022). Learn more about Alicia Voltmer and Greenberg Traurig here.

Request a Legal Consultation

Legal Advocacy 
In addition to helping individual members, the TRA Law Center protects the entire industry by advocating for restaurants when laws, rules, and court cases are deliberated. In many instances, this advocacy work shields restaurants from legal fights that would be incredibly costly and time-consuming to take on individually.

Some of our recent work includes:

  • Fighting a dramatic expansion of the NLRB’s joint employer rule, which would create new liability for franchisees, suppliers, vendors, contractors, and subcontractors. More information here.
  • Filing a lawsuit and now an appeal with the Restaurant Law Center in the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the Department of Labor’s dual jobs tip credit regulation that is unworkable for many restaurants. More information here.
  • Filing an amicus or “friend of the court” brief with the Restaurant Law Center in the Texas Supreme Court in City of League City, Texas v. Jimmy Changas, Inc. This case will set a precedent for whether restaurants can rely on the contracts that cities offer businesses to encourage economic development. More information here.
  • Filing an amicus brief in support of two Texas restaurants seeking business interruption insurance coverage for COVID-19 closures. More information here.
  • Pushing back on overly burdensome FDA traceability requirements. More information here.
  • Raising concerns about the unintended consequences of proposed SEC climate rules. More information here.

If you have any questions or suggestions about our legal advocacy, please contact Kelsey at [email protected].

Legal Resource Center
To help restaurants navigate all of their legal obligations, we are regularly updating the Legal Resource Center with content from our TRA Law Center partners. Visit the members-only Legal Resource Center at the button below.

Visit Legal Resource Center