Cannabis

  • May 21, 2024

    Martha's Vineyard Pot Shop Battles State Transportation Rules

    A shuttered Martha's Vineyard cannabis dispensary said Tuesday that Massachusetts regulators are overreaching by banning the transport of marijuana over state territorial waters, arguing that the move has threatened permanent closure for the island's only retail location and a return to illicit sales during the impending summer vacation season.

  • May 21, 2024

    Altria Unit Fights Bids To Toss Illegal Vape Sale Suit

    Altria Group Inc. subsidiary NJOY LLC is fighting a pair of bids to dismiss its suit seeking to block illegal sales of flavored vapes, saying it has shown both how it has been harmed by their sale and how preventing the sales would redress its injuries.

  • May 21, 2024

    Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023

    The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.

  • May 21, 2024

    The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms

    The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.

  • May 20, 2024

    Mich. Town Hit With $5M Suit Over Weed Dispensary Flip-Flop

    A marijuana retail store developer has sued a Michigan township in federal court, alleging the township violated the state's zoning enabling act and cost it more than $5 million by unconstitutionally blocking its special-use permit to develop a dispensary after initially greenlighting the development.

  • May 20, 2024

    Cops Say Challenge To NJ City Pot Policy Is State Matter

    A pair of former Jersey City, New Jersey, cops who sued city officials alleging they were wrongfully terminated for their off-duty use of regulated cannabis have asserted that the city improperly moved the matter to federal court and that the case belongs under state jurisdiction.

  • May 20, 2024

    Pa. Rehab Center Worker's Firing Suit Filed Too Late

    A Pennsylvania appeals panel won't reinstate a wrongful termination suit by a former rehabilitation center worker who says she was wrongly fired for using medical cannabis, rejecting her argument that her claims should be subject to a six-year statute of limitations instead of two years.

  • May 17, 2024

    Bong Co. Can't Get Early Win In TM Suit Over No-Show Opponent

    The maker of Stündenglass-branded glass infusers was denied a win over a retailer that didn't bother to put up a defense against its trademark infringement suit, after a California federal judge accepted a magistrate's report that the litigious manufacturer still couldn't back up its claims.

  • May 17, 2024

    NY Discovery Reform Feud Simmers Between DAs, Defenders

    Four years after New York imposed new requirements on prosecutors to more promptly hand over evidence to defendants in criminal cases, data suggests that district attorneys’ offices are still struggling to comply. In the meantime, experts and advocates say many are quietly working to tweak the reforms or potentially scale them back.

  • May 17, 2024

    Pot Co. Can Amend Complaint Or Reply To Dismissal Motion

    A Michigan federal judge has given a cannabis company three weeks to either amend its complaint against a former business partner or respond to a motion to dismiss its claims that the former business partner sabotaged a project by convincing investors to put their money elsewhere.

  • May 17, 2024

    Tilray To Raise Money For Deals Amid US Pot Policy Change

    Cannabis lifestyle and consumer packaged goods company Tilray Brands Inc. on Friday said it plans to raise money to fund future acquisitions and expansion, in an announcement that comes just one day after President Joe Biden revealed that his administration is formally relaxing restrictions on marijuana.

  • May 16, 2024

    11th Circ. Denies Ayahuasca Church's Bid For Rehearing

    The Eleventh Circuit has refused to grant an en banc rehearing to a Florida church that wanted to use ayahuasca as a sacrament, leaving in place an appellate ruling that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration properly denied a religious exemption from federal law against the psychedelic substance.

  • May 16, 2024

    Pa. Pot Co. Says No Deal To Breach In Growth IP Suit

    A Pennsylvania cannabis cultivator is asking a federal court to dismiss a suit claiming it broke an oral agreement with a consulting firm and continued to use the firm's trade secrets, saying no oral contract existed, nor was the firm's information trade secrets.

  • May 16, 2024

    HUD Calls Pa. Medical Marijuana Housing Suit Premature

    A Pennsylvania housing authority and two would-be residents acted hastily in suing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, since HUD hadn't formally threatened to pull the authority's funding over a state court order to offer assistance to medical marijuana users, a HUD lawyer told a federal judge Thursday.

  • May 16, 2024

    Biden Admin Proposes To Loosen Restrictions On Marijuana

    President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that his administration has formally recommended relaxing restrictions on marijuana, marking the most significant federal policy shift on cannabis since the drug was criminalized more than 50 years ago.

  • May 15, 2024

    Calif. Atty Tells 4th Circ. Dormant Commerce Applies To Pot

    A California lawyer who has filed lawsuits challenging state and local cannabis licensure programs spearheaded an appeal at the Fourth Circuit asking it to find that the dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution applies to federally illegal marijuana.

  • May 15, 2024

    'Excellent' Altria MDL Deal Earns Attys Fees Above Benchmark

    A California federal judge on Wednesday awarded $13.65 million in plaintiffs' attorney fees as part of tobacco giant Altria's $45.5 million deal resolving consumer claims in multidistrict litigation alleging the company helped fuel a youth vaping crisis created by e-cigarette maker Juul, saying the "excellent result" merited fees above the normal 25% benchmark.

  • May 15, 2024

    Prosecutors Fight Full Court Review Of 'Double Odor' Pot Test

    North Carolina prosecutors said no review is necessary on a state appellate court's opinion which found that the smell of marijuana combined with the "strong odor of a cologne" as a "cover scent" is enough to give police officers probable cause to search a vehicle, highlighting the hostile tone in the appellant's bid.

  • May 15, 2024

    Daimler Settles Worker's Suit Claiming Pot Test Got Him Fired

    Daimler Truck North America LLC has settled an employee's New Jersey federal court suit claiming he was illegally fired over a positive cannabis test following an accident in a company vehicle, even though he wasn't found at fault for the incident, according to a Wednesday court filing.

  • May 15, 2024

    Startup Consultant Hits Hemp Co. With $2.1M Fee Suit

    A consulting firm focused on helping startup companies raise capital is taking an industrial hemp firm, its owners and a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan's business school to Ohio federal court over $2.1 million in consulting fees it says it never got to collect.

  • May 15, 2024

    Hemp Co. Settles Sales Dispute With Fla. Regulators

    The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has inked a deal with a hemp-product maker that accused the agency of overstepping its bounds and using stop-sale orders to block it from selling its hemp products outside the state.

  • May 14, 2024

    Cannabis Co., Wrigley Heir Settle $7M Investor Suit

    An investor that sank $7.4 million into cannabis operator Parallel has settled its suit with the company and its former CEO and heir to the Wrigley chewing gum fortune, according to a mediation report filed in Florida federal court.

  • May 14, 2024

    Cos. Ask NY Court To Invalidate 100s Of Pot Licenses

    New York state's beleaguered cannabis oversight agency has been hit with another lawsuit, this one seeking to invalidate hundreds of retail licenses that regulators issued to those most directly affected by the enforcement of marijuana prohibition laws.

  • May 14, 2024

    Mass. Pot Shop Ordered To Recognize Union, Rehire Workers

    A Massachusetts cannabis retailer found to have engaged in union busting must recognize and bargain with a United Food and Commercial Workers local and offer to rehire two fired union supporters, a federal judge ordered Tuesday.

  • May 14, 2024

    California Pot Worker's Suit Alleges Slurs, Unpaid Overtime

    A former worker for a cannabis cultivator and distributor is suing his former employer in California state court, saying he was fired in retaliation for reporting a work environment rife with racial discrimination.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.

  • How Poor Governance, Weak Contracts Harm Cannabis Cos.

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    Decades into cannabis decriminalization and legalization, many companies in the industry still operate on a handshake basis or fail to keep even minimally required records, which can have devastating effects and lead to costly, business-killing litigation, says Griffen Thorne at Harris Bricken.

  • The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift

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    As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.

  • 5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money

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    As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.

  • Expediting Psychedelics Approvals In The US And Canada

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    Accelerated regulatory pathways for psychedelics in the U.S. and Canada play a pivotal role in the progression of drugs, devices and novel therapies toward commercialization, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell, and Ana Dukic and Sabrina Ramkellawan at AxialBridge.

  • Series

    Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52

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    Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.

  • Employee Experience Strategy Can Boost Law Firm Success

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    Amid continuing business uncertainty, law firms should consider adopting a holistic employee experience strategy — prioritizing consistency, targeting signature moments and leveraging measurement tools — to maximize productivity and profitability, says Haley Revel at Calibrate Consulting.

  • Series

    Competing In Triathlons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While practicing law and competing in long-distance triathlons can make work and life feel unbalanced at times, participating in the sport has revealed important lessons about versatility, self-care and perseverance that apply to the office as much as they do the racecourse, says Laura Heusel at Butler Snow.

  • Where Justices Stand On Chevron Doctrine Post-Argument

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    Following recent oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court, at least four justices appear to be in favor of overturning the long-standing Chevron deference, and three justices seem ready to uphold it, which means the ultimate decision may rest on Chief Justice John Roberts' vote, say Wayne D'Angelo and Zachary Lee at Kelley Drye.

  • Perspectives

    6 Practice Pointers For Pro Bono Immigration Practice

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    An attorney taking on their first pro bono immigration matter may find the law and procedures beguiling, but understanding key deadlines, the significance of individual immigration judges' rules and specialized aspects of the practice can help avoid common missteps, says Steven Malm at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Canada

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    In Canada, multiple statutes, regulations, common law and industry guidance address environmental, social and governance considerations, with debate over ESG in the business realm potentially growing on the horizon, say attorneys at Blakes.

  • 5 Legal Considerations For Psychedelic Therapy Sector

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    With multiple developments signaling the rise of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, it is imperative that clinicians understand unique legal nuances ranging from corporate formation to specialized insurance coverage, say Kimberly Chew and Natasha Sumner at Husch Blackwell.

  • Lessons From Country Singer's Personal Service Saga

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    Recent reports that country singer Luke Combs won a judgment against a Florida woman who didn’t receive notice of the counterfeit suit against her should serve as a reminder for attorneys on best practices for effectuating service by electronic means, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Series

    Baking Bread Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    After many years practicing law, and a few years baking bread, I have learned that there are a few keys to success in both endeavors, including the assembly of a nourishing and resilient culture, and the ability to learn from failure and exercise patience, says Rick Robinson at Reed Smith.

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