Cannabis

  • October 21, 2024

    Court Kicks Cannabis Consumer Case Back To Conn. State

    Smoke and vape wholesalers accused of illegally selling intoxicating hemp products have lost a bid to keep an unfair trade lawsuit brought against them by the Connecticut attorney general out of state court after a district court judge ruled it doesn't matter if the THC in the vapes was derived from federally legal hemp.

  • October 21, 2024

    Cannabis Financing Co. Sues Over Dubious $3M Merger Demand

    A Colorado-based company that provides banking services to cannabis companies is suing three shareholders of a company it acquired in a $30 million merger, saying in the last few days they've attempted to change the way the merger payments are distributed.

  • October 21, 2024

    Atty's Brother Says Sibling Feud Is Harassment Campaign

    A Michigan attorney's brother and former business partner has accused the attorney of filing baseless lawsuits and harassing his employees in an attempt to squeeze money out of him, as the businessman countered a motion to block him from attending depositions.

  • October 18, 2024

    Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attys From 74 Firms

    The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2024 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.

  • October 18, 2024

    Weedmaps' Parent Co. Faces Investor Suit After SEC Fine

    The parent company of cannabis tech company Weedmaps was hit with an investor's proposed class action alleging shareholders were damaged following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's announcement that it fined the company $1.5 million for allegedly making misleading statements about its monthly active users.

  • October 18, 2024

    1st Circ. OKs Prosecution Of Alleged Illicit Medical Pot Grow

    The First Circuit has determined that the federal prosecution of two Mainers accused of running an unlawful marijuana cultivation operation can continue despite a federal policy that bans the U.S. Department of Justice from bringing cases against medical cannabis entities.

  • October 18, 2024

    Hemp Industry Group Sues Louisiana Officials Over New Law

    Louisiana hemp interests on Friday filed a federal lawsuit against the governor and attorney general challenging a new state law meant to rein in intoxicating hemp products, alleging the new policy runs afoul of the federal law that legalized hemp nationally.

  • October 17, 2024

    E-Cig Regs Are Congress' Job, Not FDA's, GOP Pols Tell Justices

    Republican lawmakers told the U.S. Supreme Court that Congress, not the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, should regulate flavored e-cigarettes, and that the regulator overstepped its authority by banning the sale of the vape products.

  • October 17, 2024

    Neobank Execs Want Out Of Cannabis Co.'s $127K Suit

    The former directors of a defunct, cannabis industry-focused neobank are looking to kill a suit brought against them by Killa Bees Distribution LLC, a CBD company which claims in Oregon federal court that executives should be held liable for the nontraditional financial institution's failure to produce nearly $127,000 in deposits.

  • October 17, 2024

    Under Pot Law, Preschool Isn't 'School,' Ariz. Court Rules

    A divided Arizona appeals court on Thursday shut down a challenge to a state decision that granted a medical marijuana license to a dispensary located near a preschool after finding that state law treats "public or private schools" and "preschools" as two different things.

  • October 17, 2024

    Oregon Appeals Court Says E-Cig Rules Violate Free Speech

    Oregon's intermediate appellate court ruled Wednesday that a state law governing how e-cigarettes and cannabis vapes can be packaged violated guarantees of free speech enshrined in the state's constitution.

  • October 17, 2024

    Ex-Mich. Speaker Denied Early Release Over Health Concerns

    A Michigan federal judge on Wednesday rejected a request from the former speaker of the state House of Representatives to serve the last three and a half years of his bribery sentence at home on compassionate release, finding he is receiving adequate healthcare in prison.

  • October 16, 2024

    Judge Orders 'Starbuds' Co. To Grind Down Logo And Name

    A federal judge in Manhattan has ordered a cannabis food truck to destroy all of its "Starbuds" logos, after siding with coffee giant Starbucks Corp. in a copyright infringement lawsuit.

  • October 16, 2024

    Award Rightly Reinstates Worker In Pot Test Spat, Judge Says

    An arbitration board correctly ordered an Alaska Airlines mechanic's reinstatement after he was fired following a positive test for marijuana, a Washington federal judge concluded, upholding the arbitration panel's view of the just cause provision in the labor contract between the airline and the worker's union.

  • October 16, 2024

    SEC To Settle Claims CBD Exec Took $13M From Hospital

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is ready to make a deal with a former cannabidiol products executive accused of taking $13 million from a hospital after falsely promising to deliver urgently needed masks during the height of the pandemic.

  • October 16, 2024

    Court Tosses Suit Against NJ Cops For Medical Pot Seizure

    A New Jersey federal judge tossed a civil rights action Tuesday against a police officer who seized medical marijuana from a registered patient, noting that police could not determine at the time whether the marijuana was lawfully purchased.

  • October 15, 2024

    Justices Mull RICO's Scope In Trucker's CBD Case

    U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared conflicted whether to sanction a commercial trucker's attempt to bring a racketeering claim against CBD companies, whose allegedly mislabeled products the trucker claims led to his firing.

  • October 15, 2024

    Aurora Cannabis Gets First Nod For $8M Investor Suit Deal

    Aurora Cannabis Inc.'s $8.05 million settlement with a proposed class of investors who accused it of orchestrating a $21.7 million "round-trip sale" to keep its stock prices high got a U.S. magistrate judge's initial sign-off along with an order pausing the parties' dispute while the deal is reviewed.

  • October 15, 2024

    Law Firms Diverge As Anti-ESG Pushback Continues

    A continuing onslaught of legislation and litigation opposing corporate environmental, social and governance actions has created a fork in the road for law firms, with some choosing to scale back efforts and others pushing ahead with their internal ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.

  • October 15, 2024

    The 2024 Law360 Pulse Social Impact Leaders

    Check out our Social Impact Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their engagement with social responsibility and commitment to pro bono service.

  • October 15, 2024

    Gov't Resists DC Circ. Redo In Ayahuasca Church Tax Case

    An Iowa church that used a psychedelic in its rites was correctly denied tax-exempt status on grounds that it was organized for illegal aims, the federal government told the D.C. Circuit in urging it to reject the church's request for a rehearing.

  • October 11, 2024

    Up Next At High Court: CBD Injuries & The Clean Water Act

    The U.S. Supreme Court will be closed Monday, but the justices will return to the bench Tuesday to hear arguments over whether the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act allows litigants to pursue claims of economic harm tied to personal injuries, and how specific pollutant discharge limits have to be under the Clean Water Act.

  • October 11, 2024

    Court Allows Calif. Hemp Ban To Remain In Effect

    A California state judge on Friday ruled that the Golden State's new ban on hemp products with THC will remain in effect, rejecting a bid by a leading hemp industry trade organization and the cannabis brand fronted by stoner comedians Cheech and Chong to halt the emergency rules.

  • October 11, 2024

    High Court Bar's Future: Stanford Law's Easha Anand

    Fresh off her shot-from-a-cannon debut during the U.S. Supreme Court's previous term, Easha Anand of Stanford Law School is moving full steam ahead into the new term, arguing Tuesday against one of the nation's most accomplished oral advocates. If things go as usual, Anand says she'll have nerves "out the wazoo" before and even after the showdown — but none at all when staying calm matters most.

  • October 11, 2024

    Justices Will Evaluate RICO Scope In Trucker's CBD Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear a case brought by a trio of CBD companies asking the justices to establish whether a trucker can bring a personal injury claim under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.

Expert Analysis

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

  • Opinion

    States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions

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    Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Constitutional Protections For Cannabis Companies Are Hazy

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    Cannabis businesses are subject to federal enforcement and tax, but often without the benefit of constitutional protections — and the entanglement of state and federal law and conflicting judicial opinions are creating confusion in the space, says Amber Lengacher at Purple Circle.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 36 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • How Cannabis Rescheduling May Affect Current Operators

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    The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's proposal to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III provides relief in the form of federal policy from the stigma and burdens of Schedule I, but commercial cannabis operations will remain unchanged until the federal-state cannabis policy gap is remedied by Congress, say Meital Manzuri and Alexis Lazzeri at Manzuri Law.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

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