Cannabis

  • April 23, 2026

    Mich. High Court Fast-Tracks Appeal Over 24% Cannabis Tax

    The Michigan Supreme Court has ordered the state's intermediate appeals court to accelerate a closely watched constitutional challenge to the state's 24% cannabis tax that went into effect earlier this year, halting trial court proceedings as the appeal unfolds. 

  • April 23, 2026

    Cannabis Cos. Use Opponents' Playbook In Latest Ballot Fight

    A campaign to repeal the legalization of retail cannabis in Massachusetts via ballot initiative — the first campaign of its kind in the country — has triggered a legal action from cannabis business owners akin to the sort pushed by legalization opponents for years.

  • April 23, 2026

    Scotts Miracle-Gro Gets Sales Channel 'Stuffing' Suit Trimmed

    An Ohio federal judge has trimmed claims from a securities class action against Scotts Miracle-Gro and several of its executives claiming they misled investors about the lawn and garden care company's inventory levels, debt covenant compliance and financials.

  • April 23, 2026

    DOJ Says Medical Pot Shift Shouldn't Affect Gun Rights Case

    Despite an order from the U.S. Department of Justice loosening federal restrictions on medical marijuana, the Trump administration signaled Thursday that it does not intend for the changes to cannabis regulation to apply retroactively.

  • April 23, 2026

    Trulieve Says Infringement Suit Doesn't Actually State A Claim

    Cannabis company Trulieve Inc. has said a rival company's complaint against it lacks any factual basis to support the allegation Trulieve infringed the rival's patents, urging a Florida federal court to throw out the suit.

  • April 23, 2026

    DOJ Final Order Loosens Rules For State-Legal Medical Pot

    The U.S. Department of Justice published a final order Thursday loosening federal restrictions on medical marijuana products that fall within the ambit of state-regulated programs or have approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

  • April 22, 2026

    Kratom Interests Insist Utah Law Preempted

    The Global Kratom Coalition and a seller of dietary supplements are urging a federal court to block Utah's law reining in the psychoactive products derived from the kratom leaf, arguing it is preempted by federal food and drug laws.

  • April 22, 2026

    Pot Dispensary Owners Sue Partners Over 'Phantom Debt' Plot

    An investor and a cannabis license holder are suing a couple they had hoped would manage a Los Angeles marijuana dispensary for them, claiming in California state court that they instead created $3.4 million in "phantom debt" to steal majority ownership interests in the business and then misappropriate millions.

  • April 22, 2026

    RJ Reynolds Wants Order That E-Cigs Don't Infringe Patent

    RJ Reynolds Vapor Co., which produces Vuse e-cigarettes, filed a suit in Delaware federal court seeking a declaration that it does not infringe a patent held by rival VPR Brands.

  • April 22, 2026

    Va. Lawmakers Reject Governor's Changes To Pot Bill

    Virginia legislators on Wednesday rejected Gov. Abigail Spanberger's proposed changes to a bill that would create a regulated cannabis market.

  • April 22, 2026

    Mass. Justices Reject Additional Rules For Punitive Damages

    Massachusetts' highest court on Wednesday rejected a bid by Philip Morris USA Inc. to impose rules aimed at curbing big-dollar punitive damages awards, declining to wipe out or further reduce a verdict against the tobacco company that was already slashed from $1 billion to $56 million.  

  • April 21, 2026

    Plaintiff Drops Pot Co. Spam Text Suit

    A man who sued a cannabis retailer on allegations he received unsolicited text messages has voluntarily dismissed his Florida federal lawsuit just a month after the company argued the Telephone Consumer Protection Act only covers calls, not texts.

  • April 21, 2026

    7th Circ. Says Fed. Laws Don't Preempt Wis. Vape Sale Ban

    The Seventh Circuit declined Tuesday to revive vaping interest groups' bid to halt enforcement of a Wisconsin law banning sales of e-cigarettes that aren't approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, finding federal law doesn't preempt the state's authority to regulate the marketing and sales of tobacco products. 

  • April 21, 2026

    Feds Say Pot Foes Lack Standing To Stop CMS Hemp Program

    Federal health regulators have told a D.C. federal judge that anti-pot advocates' attempt to block a program to ease access for Medicare beneficiaries to federally legal hemp products that have small amounts of THC was not bolstered by the addition of a pharmaceutical company as a co-plaintiff.

  • April 21, 2026

    Lender Asks If Weed Co. Cash-Seizure Ban Applies At Maturity

    A lender has asked a New Jersey federal court whether an order that blocked it from seizing a cannabis company's assets or cash amid a dispute over whether the company defaulted on loans applies to any default over the failure to pay the principal and interest due at maturity.

  • April 21, 2026

    Pot Management Co. Says It's Allowed Biz Tax Deduction

    A California-based management company linked to cannabis operations is challenging the IRS over a $4.2 million tax bill, according to a U.S. Tax Court petition, arguing that the company does not traffic in controlled substances that would otherwise bar it from claiming business deductions.

  • April 20, 2026

    Philip Morris Unfairly Gains From Label Ruling, 11th Circ. Told

    Philip Morris cannot be the only company allowed to not follow a rule requiring cigarette makers to add graphic warnings to their labels, R.J. Reynolds and a coalition of tobacco businesses have told the Eleventh Circuit, suggesting that consumers might assume its cigarettes are safer than theirs.

  • April 20, 2026

    Utah Says Kratom Law Doesn't Clash With Federal Policy

    Utah officials have urged a federal judge not to halt enforcement of a new state law reining in psychoactive products derived from the kratom leaf, saying the policy is necessary for consumer safety and public health and is not preempted by federal law.

  • April 20, 2026

    Feds Get SEC Suit Paused Against Corporate Raider Bilzerian

    Prosecutors can pause U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fraud claims in New York federal court against convicted corporate raider Paul Bilzerian and his associates as the government's own charges against him, his accountant and a vape company head for an October trial.

  • April 20, 2026

    Trump Orders Agencies To Fast-Track Psychedelic Therapies

    President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that his administration would instruct federal agencies to accelerate investigations into new therapies derived from psychedelic drugs and streamline patients' access to the treatments.

  • April 17, 2026

    DC Judge Doubts Standing Of Cannabis Shops Alliance

    A D.C. federal judge told lawyers for an association of marijuana "gifting" shops either to drop their lawsuit challenging the district's new dispensary enforcement scheme or have their members join as parties, after the attorneys conceded that the association had only been formed to bring the litigation.

  • April 17, 2026

    RI Pot Regulators Sees No Easy Fix For License Injunction

    Rhode Island's Cannabis Control Commission said Friday it's looking at every possible option to undo a federal court's order that has stopped it from awarding recreational cannabis licenses, telling concerned industry leaders that the "extremely volatile and constantly evolving legal landscape" means there is no easy fix.

  • April 17, 2026

    Judge Finds E-Cigarette Shop Violated State Tobacco Laws

    A California magistrate judge has recommended summary judgment in favor of the state in its suit against an electronic cigarette seller, saying the undisputed facts of the case say the business violated the law by selling e-cigarettes without a license and unlawfully shipped them through the U.S. Postal Service.

  • April 17, 2026

    Kratom Cos. Deny Blame For Connecticut Man's Death

    A Connecticut man suing a group of kratom companies over the death of his son filed his suit too late and in the wrong venue, and the decedent who suffered an overdose in 2024 "knowingly" assumed the risk of any injury, two of the defendants said in new state court filings.

  • April 16, 2026

    Workers Say Folded Boston Pot Shops Owe Them Pay

    Former employees of two defunct Boston marijuana dispensaries, both called Pure Oasis, are suing the companies behind the shops and their owners in Massachusetts state court, accusing them of failing to pay out final wages and earned vacation time after the leaders decided to close the shops without warning.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Mindfulness Meditation Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Mindful meditation enables me to drop the ego, and in helping me to keep sight of what’s important, permits me to learn from the other side and become a reliable counselor, says Roy Wyman at Bass Berry.

  • AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

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    Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

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    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

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    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • Risk Mitigation For Psychedelic Use In Reproductive Health

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    With the rising use of psychedelics among women of reproductive age and the absence of clear professional guidelines regarding risk labeling, healthcare providers and facilitators should adopt proactive, evidence-based approaches to mitigate malpractice liability risks, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Sara Shoar at the University of Southern California.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

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    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

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