Duane Morris Partner Paul P. Josephson and Associate Sarah M. Bachner will be speaking on a panel for the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey, “Legalizing Marijuana in New Jersey – What It Means to Your Business” to be held Wednesday, March 7, 2018 at 8:00 a.m
For more information and to register, please visit the event site.
Duane Morris is presenting a series of monthly webinars throughout 2018 to discuss issues affecting the cannabis industry. Each session will cover a specific subject and feature a “Hot Topics” segment to cover recent developments in the industry.
Join us for the second session on Tuesday, February 27, 2018, covering topics impacting the cannabis industry.
Cannabis 102: Intellectual Property, Trademark and Branding, and Marketing
Presenters
For more information, as well as upcoming dates and topics, visit the webinar event page.
Duane Morris partner Seth Goldberg will be one of the presenters at a National Association of Surety Bond Producers Virtual Seminar, “Seeing Green? A look at Marijuana Law and Surety Bonds,” to be held on Wednesday, February 21, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. ET. For more information or to register, please visit the event website.
As the values of transactions in the cannabis industry grow, commercial litigation is certain to follow. One reason for this is that lawyers may be more inclined to represent clients on a contingency fee basis. Where the value of a cannabis transaction is small, the expense of litigation may not be worthwhile for an individual or business feeling cheated, and any settlement or judgment would likely not cover the costs of an attorneys’ contingency fee. However, where the value of a cannabis transaction is sufficiently high, say the upper six-figures or more, a lawyer may be more inclined to take the case for a contingency fee because the lawyer’s percentage of any recovery is likely to be greater than the costs the lawyer will incur in litigating the matter. A contingency fee arrangement may also be utilized to the advantage of a party that believes threatened or actual litigation might shift the leverage in negotiations and result in more attractive commercial terms.
A recently filed action captioned Silver v. High Street Capital et al., 2:18-cv-00020 (E.D. PA. 1/3/18), appears to result from the type of high value transaction that might warrant a contingency fee in a commercial litigation. The plaintiff, industry consultant Harris Silver alleges that, in connection with their bid to obtain a license to grow and process cannabis pursuant to Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Program, defendant High Street Capital and other defendants associated with High Street promised Silver a lucrative compensation package, including (a) $180,000 to prepare the license application; (b) a $150,000 cash bonus upon the granting of a license and a 4% non-dilutable equity stake in any licensee; and (c) a salaried position with the licensee. Silver claims that notwithstanding his work on the High Street application, for which a permit was granted, the High Street defendants never paid Silver the valuable consideration that was contingent on the permit being granted. Thus, based on a host of factual allegations detailing various communications he had with the High Street defendants, and other allegations detailing his efforts on their behalf, Harris asserted claims against the High Street defendants for breach of contract, common law fraud, promissory estoppel, unjust enrichment, securities fraud and civil conspiracy. Continue reading “Contingency Fees and Commercial Litigation Hit the Cannabis Space”
A video replay of the webinar Cannabis 101: Update on the Federal Enforcement & State Regulatory Environment is available to view.
The webinar covers the topics:
Watch above in the embedded viewer, or go to the event page to watch the replay.
Just a week in office, Governor Phil Murphy has taken the first step in process of bringing much needed reform to New Jersey’s medical marijuana program. He signed an Executive Order today calling for his Commissioner of Health and the Board of Medical Examiners to report back in 60 days concerning expansion of the currently limited medical marijuana program consisting of five operating centers.
New Jersey’s existing medical marijuana program is problematic and ineffective for a number of reasons. The current program allows for a very limited number of qualifying patient conditions, has an overly burdensome regulatory process and associated administrative fees that discourage both doctor and patient participation, has an arbitrary and unnecessary limit on the amount of dispensaries permitted to operate in the state. It also places illogical limits on the types of medical cannabis strains permitted to be sold in each dispensary.
Stay tuned for more developments.
Duane Morris is presenting a series of monthly webinars throughout 2018 to discuss issues affecting the cannabis industry. Each session will cover a specific subject and feature a “Hot Topics” segment to cover recent developments in the industry.
Join us for the kickoff session on Monday, January 29, 2018, covering topics impacting the cannabis industry.
Cannabis 101: Update on the Federal Enforcement & State Regulatory Environment
Presenters
For more information, as well as upcoming dates and topics, visit the webinar event page.
Duane Morris’ Seth Goldberg will be presenting at the 24th Annual Health Law Institute in Philadelphia on March 13-14, 2018.
Seth’s presentation, “The Regulation of Medical Marijuana Under Federal and Pennsylvania Law,” will take place on Wednesday, March 14 after 3:35 p.m.
The Health Law Institute delivers important new content over the course of various presentations. The Institute provides a place for you to learn more about the developments and practice challenges within health law-ranging from over 48 different topics. This is a great way to explore what is happening in terms of health law issues and network with over 400 health law professionals.
For more information and to register, please visit the event website.
By Alexandra Slavet
On January 8, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Andrew E. Lelling, noted in an official statement that he “cannot provide assurances that certain categories of participants in the state-level marijuana trade will be immune from federal prosecution.” This appears to be the strongest negative statement yet from a federal prosecutor following US Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recent rescission of a series of memoranda which had suggested low prioritization of prosecution of those in the cannabis industry. Sessions is offering each local US Attorney the discretion to pursue prosecutions of state-legal actors as long as they follow long established Department of Justice guidelines for all prosecutions. Other US Attorneys have, for the most part, stayed silent on the issue, confirmed no change in approach, or said they would study the issue. Continue reading “Massachusetts US Attorney Issues Warning to Cannabis Actors”
With the election of Phil Murphy as New Jersey Governor in 2017, the possibility of New Jersey becoming one of the next states to pass recreational marijuana legislation became very real, as this was among the issues key to Murphy’s campaign.
On Tuesday, January 9, 2018, less than one week after AG Sessions issued guidance to all US Attorneys rescinding Obama-era policies deprioritizing the federal prosecution of state-lawful cannabis-related activities, that possibility became more of a likelihood, as New Jersey Sen. Nicholas Scutari introduced Senate Bill 830, which would allow for the cultivation, sale and use of marijuana for recreational purposes in New Jersey by those 21 and older.
The legislation proposes adults would be permitted to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana, 16 ounces of marijuana-infused products in solids, 72 ounces in liquid form, 7 grams of concentrate and up to six immature plants, and establishes a sales tax on marijuana that would rise incrementally from 7 percent to 25 percent over five years.
