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Cannabis
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March 13, 2025
Board To Review Patent In RJ Reynolds' Infringement Dispute
The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board has agreed to hold an inter partes review of a patent challenged by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., finding the company has shown that at least some aspects of the patent may have been too obvious to grant.
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March 13, 2025
Judge Tosses Pot Co.'s Challenge To Calif. Labor Peace Law
A California federal judge has dismissed a constitutional challenge to the Golden State's law requiring marijuana businesses to have labor peace agreements, saying that the court could not intervene in the matter because the entire industry is federally illegal.
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March 13, 2025
Michigan Pot Farm Wants Sanctions In $32M Contract Suit
A Michigan cannabis farm that won a $31.8 million verdict against Curaleaf in a contract dispute in January is urging a Michigan federal court to sanction the company further, saying it has misrepresented law and binding precedent in its arguments against prejudgment interest.
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March 12, 2025
Mich. Appellate Judge Pans Medical Pot Co.'s Sales Tax Claim
A Michigan Court of Appeals judge sounded skeptical Wednesday of a medical cannabis provisioning center's claim that nonbinding guidance from the state tax agency shielded it from collecting sales tax for the first year after a law regulating its type of business was enacted.
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March 12, 2025
Cannabis Tech Co. Seeks Over $1M Interest On $4.2M Verdict
A software company that won a $4.2 million judgment last year on claims that it was wrongly pushed out of a state government contract is urging a Pennsylvania federal court to award more than $1 million in pre- and postjudgment interest on the award.
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March 12, 2025
Cannabis Co. Trulieve Improperly Kept Tax Refund, Suit Says
California cannabis retailer Catalyst alleged in a new lawsuit that Florida-based multistate operator Trulieve improperly pocketed a $305,000 federal tax refund that was rightfully Catalyst's following its acquisition of a dispensary.
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March 12, 2025
Pot Co. Wants Ill. THC Potency Suit Tossed
Vape oil maker Ascend Wellness Holdings Inc. and its affiliates are urging an Illinois federal judge to throw out a suit alleging it mislabels its vape oils as cannabis concentrates, saying the state's cannabis statutes don't allow for private citizens to seek enforcement through lawsuits.
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March 11, 2025
NJ Cannabis Co. Alleges Exec Aligned With Lender
A New Jersey cannabis company alleged in federal court that its chief restructuring officer is intentionally sabotaging the company and asked the court to step in to force him to turn over documents related to a dispute with its lender.
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March 11, 2025
Vape Cos. Say Ky. Regulator Didn't Defend E-Cig Law
Vaping interests urging the Sixth Circuit to block the enforcement of a new Kentucky law regulating e-cigarettes have told the appellate court that the state's tobacco regulator tasked with enforcing the policy didn't even defend the law in recent court pleadings.
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March 11, 2025
Alaska's RICO Claims Advance Against PBM In Opioid Suit
An Alaska federal judge has allowed most of the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act claims to move forward against pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts for its alleged role in the opioid epidemic.
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March 11, 2025
Colorado Pot Grower Sues Regulators Over Lax Enforcement
A Colorado cannabis grower is suing state regulators, alleging that they are failing to crack down on illegal businesses and retaliating against legitimate operations for blowing the whistle on noncompliant actors.
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March 11, 2025
Full Fed. Circ. Won't Rehear $95M Altria Patent Suit Win
The Federal Circuit won't hold an en banc review of a $95 million judgment against R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. that ended a suit from Altria Client Services LLC alleging that R.J. Reynolds infringed three of its patents.
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March 10, 2025
Ayahuasca Church Says DEA Violated Religious Use Contract
A New Mexico-based church whose practice involves a controlled substance has brought a federal lawsuit against the Drug Enforcement Administration, alleging the agency sat on the group's application to export the sacrament to sister churches for close to seven years.
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March 10, 2025
Iowa Opposes Vapers' Bid To Block E-Cig Regulation
The state of Iowa on Monday urged a federal court to deny a motion from a group of vape interests seeking to block enforcement of a newly enacted law prohibiting the sale of e-cigarette products that lack federal authorization.
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March 10, 2025
Pot Shop Receiver Says Brand Licensor Diverted Product
A receiver overseeing the possible sale or liquidation of a Massachusetts cannabis retailer asked a judge to order the return of more than 900 packages of product taken from its cultivation facility days before the receivership began.
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March 10, 2025
CBD Co. Launches More Patent Suits Over Topical Cream
CBD company Metronome LLC has filed another pair of suits in Delaware federal court alleging competitors are infringing its patent with a topical pain relief cream that uses cannabis-derived ingredients.
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March 07, 2025
Contractor Can't Bury Medical Marijuana Discrimination Suit
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday denied a Cleveland construction company's bid to escape a prospective employee's suit alleging that the company violated Pennsylvania's medical cannabis law when it rescinded his job offer, saying there are questions of fact about whether he would have been able to do the job.
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March 07, 2025
Grand Rapids Moves Social Equity Fee Dispute To Fed. Court
The city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, is looking to push into federal court a state lawsuit filed by cannabis companies looking to upend the fees, fines and residency requirements of the municipality's social equity program, arguing Friday that their claims all touch on federal issues.
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March 07, 2025
NY's Crackdown On Illicit Pot Is Unconstitutional, Club Says
A self-described cannabis club has launched a legal challenge to New York policies aimed at combating unregulated marijuana sales, saying authorities' raids unconstitutionally shut down its businesses.
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March 07, 2025
Budtenders Say Curaleaf's Tips Policy Violates Federal Law
A proposed class of budtenders for Curaleaf Inc.'s Maryland dispensaries are suing the company, saying it violates the Fair Labor Standards Act with its policy of paying out tips to managers.
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March 07, 2025
Dispensary Fights Lowenstein Sandler's Bid To Merge Suits
A cannabis dispensary has urged a New Jersey state court to reject Lowenstein Sandler LLP's bid to consolidate its malpractice suit against the firm and the firm's unpaid legal fee suit against the business, saying combining the cases would "reward Lowenstein's blatant litigation tactics."
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March 06, 2025
Fla. Court Told Cannabis Biz Investor Agreed Not To Sue
The CEO of an Arizona-based cannabis business on Thursday urged a Florida federal court to toss a securities fraud lawsuit brought by an investor alleging an undisclosed $13 million tax liability, saying the investor agreed not to bring claims based on whether critical nonpublic information may have been withheld.
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March 06, 2025
Religious Org. Seeks Protective Order In Ayahuasca Row
A church seeking a religious exemption to use the federally controlled psychedelic ayahuasca in its ceremonies is urging an Arizona federal judge to protect potentially sensitive internal documents sought by drug enforcers.
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March 06, 2025
Pot Co. Sues Mich. City Over 'Unlawful' Licensing Decision
A would-be dispensary sued the city of Auburn Hills, Michigan, in federal court on Thursday, alleging that the city disregarded its own voter-approved adult-use licensing ordinance when it approved four licenses last year.
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March 06, 2025
Exec Says Signature Was Forged In Case Against Pot Bank
An executive for a venture capital firm is asking an Oregon federal judge to set aside default judgments entered this week against him and his company in a suit against a defunct cannabis "neobank," saying his signature was forged on the proof of service.
Expert Analysis
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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Investors Can Aid In The Acceptance Of Psychedelic Medicine
Psychedelic medicine is ready to have its breakthrough moment, and although it still faces political, legal and communications challenges, private equity investors can play a significant role in changing the public perception on psychedelics from taboo to acceptance, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell, Charlie Panfil at the Daschle Group and Ethan Lutz at FTI Consulting.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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Proposed Cannabis Reschedule Sidesteps State Law Effects
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent proposal to move cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act provides certain benefits, but its failure to address how the rescheduling would interact with existing state cannabis laws disappointed industry participants hoping for clarity on this crucial question, says Ian Stewart at Wilson Elser.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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Series
Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer
While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
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.
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Series
Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
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.
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Opinion
State-Regulated Cannabis Can Thrive Without Section 280E
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.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
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.
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Series
Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.