Cannabis CLE

The entrepreneurial cannabis industry requires legal assistance like any other growing, innovative business sector. However, the cannabis industry does not necessarily resemble other evolving start-up business areas. Unlike most other industries, cannabis continues to be a federally designated illegal controlled substance, while various states have legalized cannabis and planted a patchwork garden of cannabis statutes, regulations, and ethics advisory opinions. What’s a lawyer to do? Legal ethics questions abound! What type of legal assistance may a lawyer provide to a client involved in the cannabis industry? May a lawyer accept product or an interest in a cannabis business in lieu of fees? Will a lawyer who participates in a medical marijuana program or indulges in recreational cannabis face ethical repercussions? This course will explore the historical context of the cannabis debate, the legal ethics implications for lawyers seeking to represent cannabis clients, and the current state of the legal profession’s response to legal ethics questions posed by lawyers traipsing through the patchwork garden of state regulations.

Notwithstanding its illegality under federal law, cannabis is now legal for medical and/or adult recreational use in a majority of states. The tension between state and federal law (and the newness of a quasi-legal cannabis industry), however, complicates the legal representation of cannabis industry clients and raises potential ethical pitfalls. The representation of cannabis clients in Intellectual Property (IP) matters is no exception and implicates unique strategic concerns.

This course will provide an in-depth overview of cannabis and substance abuse in worker’s compensation claims. By the end of this course, attorneys should understand the relevant considerations when advising their clients on worker’s compensation claims that involve cannabis or other substances. We will discuss the main areas of substance abuse that cause increased risk of injury and reduce productivity within an employment context. We will explore the various practical and legal strategies that can be utilized to prevent drugs and alcohol from entering the workplace.

The program will cover the amendments by the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (“MRTA”) to the New York Labor Law. Specifically, the program will discuss how the amendments impact employment policies such as hiring, firing, discipline, and drug screening, and pitfalls that employers may fall into in light of the new legislation. The program will also discuss open and unresolved questions by the law and how to carefully navigate around the unresolved questions. Additionally, the program will discuss what types of policies employers can set and what to include or exclude when preparing these policies. Additionally, the program will discuss what could be on the horizon with respect to further clarification from New York and possible litigation.

Notwithstanding its illegality under federal law, cannabis is now legal for medical and/or adult recreational use in a majority of U.S. states. The cannabis industry is booming and participants want and need IP protections for their products, technologies, and brands. However, the perfection and enforcement of such IP rights is complicated by the continued federal prohibition of cannabis.

The cannabis game is the real estate game. It all starts with a property that can be permitted for use as a commercial cannabis business. Property buyers, sellers, and investors alike face unique challenges in real estate transactions involving cannabis-use properties. You will learn how to adapt a lease for use in a cannabis business, what to consider when buying or selling real estate, and see contract clauses to include in your own work. The course gives a brief primer on cannabis law to set the framework for the discussion.

Cannabis attorneys are bound by the same rules of ethics as their non-cannabis law practicing lawyers, such as avoiding conflicts of interest, protecting privilege, and carefully weighing the pros and cons of possibly going into business with clients. However, for cannabis lawyers, these obligations can require greater care and attention for two reasons: one, cannabis law is relatively new practice, growing in states across the United States amid the backdrop of cannabis remaining a Schedule I Controlled Substance; and two, the business of cannabis is growing rapidly, resulting in knock-down drag-out fights for permits that repeat every time a new jurisdiction licenses cannabis businesses.

Since states have started to legalize commercial cannabis operations, businesses have mostly focused their operations on the sale and monetization of cannabis as an agricultural commodity. However, cannabis was never just about the sale and consumption of the plant itself for consumers and patients. There has always been a lifestyle and sense of community associated with the act of consumption. People have always sought entertainment out of their homes. This seminar focuses on this unique intersection and opportunity for the cannabis industry.

For the last five years, real estate has been at a premium in the cannabis industry – and so have rental rates. This seminar will review how the market has and has not changed for cannabis tenants and what both landlords and tenants should be concerned with when negotiating their relationship.

This course will provide attorneys with a basic overview of the current state of cannabis market. In this course, attorneys will familiarize themselves with general cannabis terms and definitions, as well as develop an understanding of the basic principles of cannabis and relevant considerations in the process of applying for a cannabis business license. The course will explore the various types of cannabis products, cannabis license types, and the federal cannabis laws on the horizon.

Looking to represent clients in the Cannabis Industry? This course will give participant a basic understanding of the most important issues facing cannabis businesses today, including the current interplay between state and federal law, permitting processes, real estate considerations and cannabis, corporate entity formation, taxation, buying and selling of cannabis businesses, residency requirements and the dormant commerce clause, bankruptcy and receivership laws, nuisance and RICO actions, and employment law and cannabis.

Cannabis businesses continue to require capital, but face many additional hurdles that most companies in other industries don’t have to address. This course will address these hurdles and other considerations that investors (and their counsel) must consider when evaluating a cannabis investment opportunity.