Cannabis

  • September 16, 2024

    FDA Warns Vape Retailers About Approval Inadequacies

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned a slew of retailers that they are illegally selling vape brands and products, alleging they lack regulatory approval to do so.

  • September 16, 2024

    DOL Faces 2 More Suits Over H-2A Farmworker Labor Rule

    The U.S. Department of Labor was hit Friday with two lawsuits attacking its new regulation protecting union-related activities for agricultural workers on seasonal H-2A visas — less than a month after a Georgia federal judge paused the regulation.

  • September 16, 2024

    Nebraska Medical Cannabis Initiatives Will Be On Nov. Ballot

    Initiatives to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska will appear on the ballot come November, despite some evidence of fraud in the signature-collecting petition process, according to state election officials.

  • September 13, 2024

    The 2024 Regional Powerhouses

    The law firms on Law360's list of 2024 Regional Powerhouses reflected the local peculiarities of their states while often representing clients in deals and cases that captured national attention.

  • September 15, 2024

    Cannabis Co. Nabs $150M '1st-Of-Its-Kind' Credit Facility

    Green Thumb Industries Inc. secured a $150 million credit facility led by Valley National Bank as it looks to refinance debt in what the company billed as "a first-of-its-kind credit facility for the U.S. cannabis industry."

  • September 13, 2024

    NJ Gov. Signs Law To Limit Sale Of 'Intoxicating Hemp'

    New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy on Thursday signed a bill into law aimed at regulating the sale and distribution of intoxicating hemp products in the state, particularly those sold by unauthorized sellers and those sold to people under 21.

  • September 13, 2024

    Trio Of BigLaw Mergers Expected To Drive More Deal Talks

    After months of a relatively steady pace of law firm mergers and acquisitions, the trio of proposed BigLaw tie-ups announced in recent days will likely spur more firms toward entertaining similar deal talks, experts say. Here, Law360 offers a snapshot of the proposed deals.

  • September 12, 2024

    Mass. Pot Regulator Gets Acting Head, Fired Chair To Appeal

    The Massachusetts cannabis regulator has a new acting chair, as state Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg on Thursday appointed a temporary replacement after her decision to fire Shannon O'Brien, who intends to appeal the termination.

  • September 12, 2024

    UK Says Illicit Cigarette Crackdown Halves Tobacco Tax Gap

    HM Revenue & Customs said Thursday it has slashed the tax gap on cigarettes and other tobacco products by more than half since 2005.

  • September 12, 2024

    Verrill Lands Pot Pro To Build New Cannabis Practice

    Verrill Dana LLP has brought in a veteran attorney with extensive experience in cannabis law and criminal justice initiatives, including co-founding the Georgia Innocence Project, as a partner in its Portland, Maine office, as it looks to grow its services for the state's booming marijuana industry.

  • September 11, 2024

    Litigation Spending To Rise As Cases Grow More Aggressive

    A substantial number of large companies are expecting to increase their litigation spending by double digits next year in the face of more complex and hard-fought cases — and they are more open to bringing in new legal talent to navigate the matters, according to a report released Thursday. 

  • September 11, 2024

    Top Calif. Biz Bills Sitting On Gov. Newsom's Desk

    Among the hundreds of bills awaiting California Governor Gavin Newsom's signature are a number that would create new guidelines for Golden State employers, healthcare industry players, as well as artificial intelligence labeling, textile recycling and increasing criminal penalties for corporate malfeasance by tens of millions of dollars.

  • September 11, 2024

    Department Of Homeland Security's Top Lawyer Steps Down

    The Department of Homeland Security's top lawyer has resigned from his position in the administration, according to a LinkedIn post.

  • September 11, 2024

    Federal Pot Ban Out Of Step With The Times, 1st Circ. Told

    A group of cannabis businesses told the First Circuit the federal government no longer has a reasonable basis for prohibiting state-regulated marijuana, saying Congress has clearly changed its tune on pot commerce in the more than half-century since the ban was passed.

  • September 10, 2024

    Security Co. Loses $300M Pot Suit Over Lack Of Attorney

    A New York federal judge tossed a $300 million lawsuit from an Illinois security company that claimed the business was convinced to do free surveillance camera work at hundreds of New York cannabis facilities with promises of a state contract that never came, because the plaintiff missed a pretrial conference and can't represent themselves anyway.

  • September 10, 2024

    Womble Bond Eyes Growth, Not Layoffs, With New Tie-Up

    The merger between Womble Bond Dickinson and Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP is not about cutting costs because of mounting competition, the international law firm's U.S. boss told Law360 on Tuesday. It's about growth in the U.S., the U.K. — and beyond.

  • September 10, 2024

    Manatt Phelps Grows Pot Practice With Special Counsel Hire

    Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP on Tuesday revealed the latest expansion of its cannabis and CBD practice, saying it has hired a former Barclay Damon LLP attorney who specializes in corporate, tax and regulatory issues for clients including retail dispensary licensees, cultivators and multistate operators.

  • September 10, 2024

    Ballot Selfie Can't Tank Cannabis Firm Election, Union Argues

    A United Food and Commercial Workers union local blasted a Massachusetts cannabis dispensary for trying to throw out a union election based on one worker's voluntary photograph of his ballot, telling the National Labor Relations Board that its precedent supports tossing only that vote and not the whole election.

  • September 09, 2024

    Pa. Supreme Court Snapshot: Benefits, Cannabis, Taxes

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's September schedule will have the justices pondering when to cancel tax exemptions for hospitals, if stormwater fees are taxes in disguise, and the potential resurrection of requiring medical marijuana products to be tested and approved by two separate laboratories.

  • September 09, 2024

    Wash. Justices Disbar Atty For Theft From Cannabis Investors

    Washington state's high court has ordered an attorney be disbarred for mishandling client funds, lying to investors who poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into a cannabis venture and failing to disclose conflicts of interest, adopting the state bar association's disciplinary recommendations despite objections from the lawyer.

  • September 09, 2024

    Student Vaping Down By Half-Million Kids, CDC Says

    The number of young people who vape has decreased by roughly half a million, a "monumental public health win," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but anti-tobacco advocates say more progress must be made through "crackdowns."

  • September 09, 2024

    Meta Wants Mike Huckabee's Fake CBD Ad Suit Tossed

    Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. asked a Delaware federal judge to throw out former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's suit alleging it allowed false advertisements claiming he endorsed CBD gummies on its popular social media platform, arguing the claims are clearly barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

  • September 09, 2024

    NJ Court Won't Rush UAW's Smoking Law Case Appeal

    The New Jersey Appellate Division rejected the United Auto Workers' emergency bid to overturn the dismissal of its suit alleging a law excluding casino workers from secondhand smoking protections violates the state constitution, according to a Friday order.

  • September 09, 2024

    Ore. Seeks Dismissal Of Psilocybin Disabilities Suit

    Oregon's health regulator has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit challenging aspects of the state's pioneering regulated psilocybin treatment program, saying that the program's illegality under federal law makes the lawsuit untenable.

  • September 06, 2024

    Payroll Co. Didn't Pay For Cannabis Client Referrals, Suit Says

    The founder of a now-closed payroll and human resources provider that largely served the cannabis industry claims he was never compensated for selling its client list to a Colorado rival, Comploy Inc., and is now demanding $161,000 and interest.

Expert Analysis

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • Opinion

    State-Regulated Cannabis Can Thrive Without Section 280E

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    Marijauna's reclassification as a Schedule III-controlled substance comes at a critical juncture, as removing marijuana from being subjected to Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code is the only path forward for the state-regulated cannabis industry to survive and thrive, say Andrew Kline at Perkins Coie and Sammy Markland at FTI Consulting.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

  • Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

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    As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Drafting Calif. Cannabis Management Services Agreements

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    Meital Manzuri and Alexis Lazzeri at Manzuri Law explore the ways in which management services agreements function in the California commercial cannabis industry, and highlight a few specific terms and conditions that are crucial when drafting these agreements.

  • Series

    Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic

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    Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • The Art Of Asking: Leveraging Your Contacts For Referrals

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    Though attorneys may hesitate to ask for referral recommendations to generate new business, research shows that people want to help others they know, like and trust, so consider who in your network you should approach and how to make the ask, says Rebecca Hnatowski at Edwards Advisory.

  • Wave Of Final Rules Reflects Race Against CRA Deadline

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    The flurry of final rules now leaping off the Federal Register press — some of which will affect entire industries and millions of Americans — shows President Joe Biden's determination to protect his regulatory legacy from reversal by the next Congress, given the impending statutory look-back period under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Series

    Being An Equestrian Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Beyond getting experience thinking on my feet and tackling stressful situations, the skills I've gained from horseback riding have considerable overlap with the skills used to practice law, particularly in terms of team building, continuing education, and making an effort to reset and recharge, says Kerry Irwin at Moore & Van Allen.

  • 4 Ways To Refresh Your Law Firm's Marketing Strategy

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    With many BigLaw firms relying on an increasingly obsolete marketing approach that prioritizes stiff professionalism over authentic connection, adopting a few key communications strategies to better connect with today's clients and prospects can make all the difference, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law.

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