Articles
August 13, 2026
Restaurant Law Center head focuses on issues to watch—now!
Robin Repass keeps restaurant businesses informed about the industry’s latest legal issues.
Repass says the agenda for the law center’s legal summit will highlight the legal, legislative, and regulatory changes affecting the industry.
Besides being an attorney and public policy professional, Robin Repass, the National Restaurant Association’s Executive Director and Chief Legal Counsel of its Restaurant Law Center, also brings firsthand restaurant knowledge to her role. Before beginning her career in litigation, which focused on workplace safety, employment law, and regulatory compliance, she worked her way through high school and college at restaurants in east Tennessee, including McDonald’s, Burger King, Bennigan’s, and Skoby’s, a beloved fine-dining restaurant in Kingsport. Her love for the industry was the impetus for taking on the role at the law center. Currently, she’s creating an informative agenda for its legal summit, an event that will highlight the legal, legislative, and regulatory changes affecting restaurant businesses. The summit will be held Oct. 21-23, in San Diego.
Why work for the Restaurant Law Center?
I’ve always wanted to combine advocacy, government relations, and legal strategy for member-driven organizations. Restaurants have been part of my life since my first job, and many of the most important people in my life today are from those restaurant days. This role lets me serve an industry I care deeply about.
What is the Restaurant Law Center’s most important role?
We make sure restaurants have a voice when regulations, legislation, court rulings or enforcement actions create adverse impacts—or exceed what regulators and courts can properly do. The Law Center helps courts and agencies understand how legal decisions affect operators.
What legal and regulatory issues are you watching right now?
Extended producer responsibility laws are currently a major focus. The Restaurant Law Center is actively engaged in EPR litigation that works to address onerous and burdensome laws that increase food costs for consumers and create regulatory complexity. We’re also monitoring tip-credit standards, wage-and-hour litigation, regulations banning gas appliances, various laws imposing significant new costs on restaurants, and regulatory overreach, among other topics.
Why should restaurant legal leaders attend the Restaurant Legal Summit?
It will bring together top legal leaders from restaurant companies as well as firms representing restaurants and hospitality businesses. The summit is a place where general counsel, chief legal officers, risk managers and HR leaders can spot issues before they become costly litigation or compliance problems. This year, our agenda will include congressional investigations, California compliance trends, and AI-driven wage-and-hour litigation—topics that tie directly to legal, reputational and operational risk.
What is it that will make the summit especially useful this year?
Each panel will include legal and operator perspectives. Attendees will not only hear about theory, but also how restaurant businesses manage those issues in practice. That will give legal teams the practical tools necessary for compliance, risk management, and issue spotting.
What are the biggest takeaways attendees should expect?
The networking opportunities at the summit are invaluable. Attendees will meet peers facing similar legal and operational pressures and leave with a clear readout of the top issues affecting operators. They’ll also learn how to use the Restaurant Law Center and National Restaurant Association as resources. For restaurants facing legal and regulatory challenges, that preparation is a huge business advantage.
Learn more about the Restaurant Law Center and register to attend the Restaurant Legal Summit
Why work for the Restaurant Law Center?
I’ve always wanted to combine advocacy, government relations, and legal strategy for member-driven organizations. Restaurants have been part of my life since my first job, and many of the most important people in my life today are from those restaurant days. This role lets me serve an industry I care deeply about.
What is the Restaurant Law Center’s most important role?
We make sure restaurants have a voice when regulations, legislation, court rulings or enforcement actions create adverse impacts—or exceed what regulators and courts can properly do. The Law Center helps courts and agencies understand how legal decisions affect operators.
What legal and regulatory issues are you watching right now?
Extended producer responsibility laws are currently a major focus. The Restaurant Law Center is actively engaged in EPR litigation that works to address onerous and burdensome laws that increase food costs for consumers and create regulatory complexity. We’re also monitoring tip-credit standards, wage-and-hour litigation, regulations banning gas appliances, various laws imposing significant new costs on restaurants, and regulatory overreach, among other topics.
Why should restaurant legal leaders attend the Restaurant Legal Summit?
It will bring together top legal leaders from restaurant companies as well as firms representing restaurants and hospitality businesses. The summit is a place where general counsel, chief legal officers, risk managers and HR leaders can spot issues before they become costly litigation or compliance problems. This year, our agenda will include congressional investigations, California compliance trends, and AI-driven wage-and-hour litigation—topics that tie directly to legal, reputational and operational risk.
What is it that will make the summit especially useful this year?
Each panel will include legal and operator perspectives. Attendees will not only hear about theory, but also how restaurant businesses manage those issues in practice. That will give legal teams the practical tools necessary for compliance, risk management, and issue spotting.
What are the biggest takeaways attendees should expect?
The networking opportunities at the summit are invaluable. Attendees will meet peers facing similar legal and operational pressures and leave with a clear readout of the top issues affecting operators. They’ll also learn how to use the Restaurant Law Center and National Restaurant Association as resources. For restaurants facing legal and regulatory challenges, that preparation is a huge business advantage.
Learn more about the Restaurant Law Center and register to attend the Restaurant Legal Summit
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