In a move one industry observer called "usual practice," the former top alcohol regulatory official for the state of California has taken a consulting job with a law firm that advises the alcohol industry.

The Los Angeles Times reported Jan. 5 that former California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control head Jerry Jolly, who retired from the state in August, just took a job consulting with the alcohol-industry practice of the San Francisco law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.

"This is the usual practice and it's really unfortunate, this revolving door between regulators and the alcohol industry," said James Mosher, director of the Center for the Study of Law and Enforcement. "It certainly creates the impression that the industry has additional ways of influencing the regulators."

California law bars Jolly from lobbying the state for one year after he retires. The head of the law firm's wine, beer and spirits practice, James M. Seff, said that Jolly was "always protective of the state's prerogatives" and that it would be "very, very helpful to have someone [at the firm] who sat at the top and knew what was going on."

"He never gave us anything we didn't deserve," said Seff of Jolly. "But he was willing to work with industry to get to yes on a lot of issues where we were going to get there anyway but it would have taken a good deal longer."