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Cannabis
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May 21, 2025
Food Distribution Co. Must Face Tobacco Surcharge Suit
Food distributor Performance Food Group must face a proposed class action claiming it unlawfully overcharged tobacco users hundreds of dollars for health benefits, with a Virginia federal judge ruling workers sufficiently alleged the company breached its responsibilities under federal benefits law.
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May 20, 2025
Ill. Judge Won't Toss Cannabis Payment Venture Dispute
An Illinois federal judge refused on Tuesday to toss out a shareholder's derivative lawsuit alleging his business partner usurped an opportunity to provide payment services to cannabis giant Cresco Labs, rejecting the other 50% shareholder's argument that the court lacked diversity jurisdiction in the case.
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May 20, 2025
Vape Pen Exploded In Conn. Man's Pocket, Suit Says
A Connecticut man claims a vape blew up in his pocket, causing severe burns to much of his leg, according to a state lawsuit that seeks damages against the retail store that sold the product and e-cigarette manufacturer GeekVape Technology Co. Ltd.
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May 20, 2025
Stewart Revives E-Cig Patent Row, Clarifying PTAB Denials
The acting head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has revived a company's Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenge to an electronic cigarette patent, issuing a precedential decision that provides guidance on discretionary denials when a patent challenger relies on prior art previously furnished to an examiner.Â
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May 20, 2025
Connecticut House Passes Psilocybin Decriminalization Bill
Connecticut's House of Representatives on Monday narrowly approved a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychoactive mushrooms, sending the bill to the state Senate.Â
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May 20, 2025
Former Hemp Worker Brings Paraquat Suit Against Syngenta
A Colorado man formerly employed in the hemp industry alleged in a new federal lawsuit that his exposure to the herbicide paraquat while at work is responsible for his Parkinson's disease.
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May 20, 2025
Pot Company Can't Salvage 'Neobank' Fraud Suit, For Now
An Oregon federal judge dismissed all claims against two executives of defunct cannabis-focused neobank Left Coast Financial Solutions in a lawsuit brought by CBD distributor Killa Bees Distribution LLC over $127,000 in allegedly inaccessible deposits, but gave the company one last chance to fix its complaint.
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May 19, 2025
Calif. Landowners Seek Review Of 7th Amendment Precedent
A group of Northern California landowners has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case arguing that the constitutional right to a jury trial should apply in instances of local law enforcement issuing civil penalties for alleged illicit marijuana growing.
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May 19, 2025
Legalizers Wary Of Neb. Gov.'s Picks To Oversee Medical Pot
Nebraska's governor has announced appointments to lead the state's new voter-approved medical marijuana program, but the campaign behind the legalization effort criticized the picks as an insincere effort to implement a law that state leaders have opposed.
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May 19, 2025
Vape Makers, Sellers Want NC E-Cigarette Law Stayed For Suit
A group of vaping industry entities including a trade group, electronic cigarette makers and sellers urged a North Carolina federal judge to temporarily block enforcement of a new state regulation of their market while they pursue their challenge to the statute, which they argued is preempted by federal law.
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May 16, 2025
Pot Farm Can't Challenge Colo. Regulators' Alleged Inaction
A Colorado state judge has dismissed a cannabis farm's suit alleging that state regulators haven't sufficiently cracked down on illegal operators, saying the farm isn't challenging a final agency action that is subject to judicial review.
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May 16, 2025
Ala. Medical Pot Co. Claims Regulator Retaliation Over Suits
A prospective Alabama medical cannabis business has filed a federal lawsuit against state medical marijuana regulators, alleging that officials violated the company's First Amendment rights by refusing to award it a license after it raised the alarm about irregularities and delays.
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May 16, 2025
Appellate Ruling Merits New Shot At Sales Regs, Distiller Says
A New York distillery and two Washington whiskey drinkers are asking a federal judge to reconsider the Washington state liquor board's win in a challenge to rules requiring a physical in-state presence to sell online, saying they never got to analyze the circuit ruling on which the decision was based.
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May 16, 2025
9th Circ. Won't Reopen Ex-Police Officer's Religious Bias Suit
The Ninth Circuit refused to revive a former police officer's lawsuit claiming an Arizona town fired him because it believed he was a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, saying his allegations weren't detailed enough to stay in court.
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May 16, 2025
Trucking Co. Worker Says Tobacco Surcharge Violates ERISA
An employee of Marten Transport Ltd. is suing the trucking company in Wisconsin federal court, alleging that a tobacco surcharge in its health plan violates federal antidiscrimination law.
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May 15, 2025
DEA Says State-Legal Pot Fuels Transnational Crime
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said in a report made public Thursday that state-level legalization of marijuana has resulted in a flood of cannabis beyond what those markets require and, despite state regulation, international crime syndicates have largely taken control of the entire American marijuana trade, both legal and not.Â
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May 15, 2025
FTZ Holding Can't Stop Duty Refund Clock, Trade Court Rules
The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Thursday that a cigarette distributor waited too long to seek out duty refunds on its product, explaining that products being held for several years in a foreign-trade zone did not prevent the statutory clock from running.
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May 15, 2025
Curaleaf And Ex-VP In Settlement Talks, Court Told
Curaleaf has tentatively agreed to drop a lawsuit against a former executive it accused of stealing confidential records to share with a rival cannabis firm, according to a notice filed in Florida federal court.
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May 15, 2025
Judge Recuses After Atty's Conviction Partially Overturned
The Boston federal judge who oversaw the trial of an attorney charged with bribing a Massachusetts police chief to secure a local marijuana license recused himself from the case Thursday, after the First Circuit vacated most of the convictions and ordered the lawyer to be resentenced on the remaining guilty finding.
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May 15, 2025
5th Circ. Says Samsung Must Face Battery Suit In Texas
A divided Fifth Circuit panel has revived a man's claims against South Korea-based Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. in a suit over an exploding e-cigarette battery, finding the company's marketing to industrial companies in Texas is enough of a connection to the state to grant jurisdiction.
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May 14, 2025
'Toys R Us' Blows Smoke At 'Vape R Us' Over Similar Marks
Toys 'R' Us' parent company Wednesday filed suit in Connecticut federal court, accusing a vape business named Vape R Us of copying and tarnishing Toys R Us trademarks and using the marks to trick customers into believing they're shopping somewhere owned or endorsed by the toy store chain.
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May 14, 2025
RJ Reynolds Can Keep Trial Win In Engle Case, Court Says
A Florida appeals court on Wednesday affirmed a verdict in favor of R.J. Reynolds in an Engle progeny suit over a longtime smoker's death, saying counsel's failure to use all their juror challenges invalidates an argument that a juror was unfairly selected.
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May 14, 2025
Canadian Pot Gear Exec Fights Feds' Bid To Exit Border Suit
The Canadian CEO of a cannabis agricultural equipment company claims federal authorities have again illegally denied him entry into the United States, despite the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's recent assurance it had revoked a previous removal order while seeking to dodge his lawsuit in Seattle federal court.
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May 14, 2025
Hydroponics Giant, Former Exec. Settle Firing Suit
A Michigan entrepreneur who claims a hydroponics giant improperly fired him and withheld at least $800,000 in executive compensation has agreed to a deal that will end his breach of contract lawsuit, with a Colorado federal judge signing off on the permanent dismissal on Wednesday.
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May 14, 2025
10th Circ. Wary Of Hemp Interests' Challenge To Wyoming Law
A Tenth Circuit panel on Wednesday appeared skeptical that a Wyoming state law regulating hemp-derived intoxicating products was preempted by the federal law legalizing hemp nationwide.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Inconsistent Injury-In-Fact Rules Hinder Federal Practice
A recent Third Circuit decision, contradicting a previous ruling about whether consumers of contaminated products have suffered an injury in fact, illustrates the deep confusion this U.S. Supreme Court standard creates among federal judges and practitioners, who deserve a simpler method of determining which cases have federal standing, says Eric Dwoskin at Dwoskin Wasdin.
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In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege
Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.
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What's Next For State Regulation Of Hemp Cannabinoids
Based on two recent federal court cases that indisputably fortify broad state authority to regulate intoxicating hemp cannabinoid products, 2025 will feature continued aggressive state regulation of such products as industry stakeholders wait for Congress to release its plans for the next five-year Farm Bill, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.
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Series
Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.
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Opinion
Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay
Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.
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Lights, Camera, Ethics? TV Lawyers Tend To Set Bad Example
Though fictional movies and television shows portraying lawyers are fun to watch, Hollywood’s inaccurate depictions of legal ethics can desensitize attorneys to ethics violations and lead real-life clients to believe that good lawyers take a scorched-earth approach, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
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Perspectives
Accountant-Owned Law Firms Could Blur Ethical Lines
KPMG’s recent application to open a legal practice in Arizona represents the first overture by an accounting firm to take advantage of the state’s relaxed law firm ownership rules, but enforcing and supervising the practice of law by nonattorneys could prove particularly challenging, says Seth Laver at Goldberg Segalla.
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AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex
Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.
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When Innovation Overwhelms The Rule Of Law
In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere, it’s worth asking if the law — both substantive precedent and procedural rules — can keep up with the light speed of innovation, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering
Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.
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Parsing 3rd Circ. Ruling On Cannabis, Employee Private Suits
The Third Circuit recently upheld a decision that individuals don't have a private right of action for alleged violations of New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act, but employers should stay informed as the court encouraged the state Legislature to amend the law, say attorneys at Mandelbaum Barrett.
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Series
Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.
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Litigation Funding Disclosure Debate: Strategy Considerations
In the ongoing debate over whether courts should require disclosure of litigation funding, funders and plaintiffs tend to argue against such mandates, but voluntarily disclosing limited details about a funding arrangement can actually confer certain benefits to plaintiffs in some scenarios, say Andrew Stulce and Marc Cavan at Longford Capital.
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2025 May Be A Breakout Year For The Cannabis Industry
The cannabis industry faced a slow and frustrating 2024, but consumer trends continue to shift in favor of cannabis, and the new administration may provide the catalyst that the industry needs, says Lynn Gefen at TerrAscend.
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Scope And Nature Of Judicial Relief Will Affect Loper's Impact
The practical result of post-Loper Bright rulings against regulatory actions will depend on the relief courts grant — and there has been controversy in these types of cases over whether the ruling is applied just to the parties or nationwide, and whether the action can be left in place while it's corrected, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.