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Cannabis
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February 14, 2025
Judge Allows Grower's 4th Amendment Claim In Hemp Crop Suit
A California federal judge has partially reconsidered her prior order denying Kern County and its police officers' bid to dismiss claims by a hemp grower alleging they wrongly bulldozed 500 acres of crops, allowing the company's Fourth Amendment excessive destruction claim to proceed, but dismissing its due process claims.
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February 13, 2025
SEC Nets $38M In Judgments Over Cannabis Fraud Claims
A purported marijuana cultivation company and associated entities are on the hook for judgments worth nearly $38 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims over an alleged Ponzi-like scheme soliciting would-be investors in "nonexistent" grow facilities.
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February 13, 2025
Ore. Cannabis Labor Pact Law Is Unconstitutional, Cos. Say
An Oregon state law requiring businesses to have labor peace agreements with unions in order to obtain a license is preempted by federal labor law and violates the 14th Amendment, two cannabis companies argued as they urged a federal court to block enforcement of the law.
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February 13, 2025
9th Circ. Upholds DEA Denial Of Psilocybin Petition
The Ninth Circuit on Thursday affirmed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's rejection of a Seattle physician's request to treat terminally ill patients with psilocybin.
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February 13, 2025
Colo. Justices Won't Put City's Pot Question On April Ballot
The Colorado Supreme Court on Thursday denied a petition from Colorado Springs seeking to upend a state court decision removing from the April general election a ballot question to repeal an ordinance allowing retail cannabis sales in the city.
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February 13, 2025
Lowenstein Sandler Accuses Dispensary Of 'Bad Faith' Move
Lowenstein Sandler LLP has accused a cannabis dispensary it is suing for unpaid legal fees of effectively asking a New Jersey Superior Court judge to overturn another judge's partial denial of the dispensary's motion to dismiss the case.
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February 13, 2025
Unlicensed Pot Shop To Pay $6M Judgment In NY AG Suit
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Wednesday that a Kings County judge ordered an unlicensed cannabis shop to pay $6 million in a judgment finding that the shop had ignored orders from the Office of Cannabis Management and kept selling cannabis without a license.
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February 12, 2025
Cannabis Vape Cos. Accused Of Price-Fixing Scheme
A Chinese cannabis vape manufacturer and a slew of its U.S.-based distributors have been hit with a proposed class action alleging they maintained an unlawful anticompetitive arrangement that kept the price of marijuana vapes artificially high for close to a decade.
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February 12, 2025
Colo. City Asks State Justices To Revive Pot Ballot Question
The city of Colorado Springs is asking the Colorado Supreme Court to revive a ballot initiative that a district court struck from an upcoming election that would repeal an initiative passed in November authorizing the retail sale of cannabis in city limits.
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February 12, 2025
Fla. Pot Patients Say 8th Circ. Precedent Backs Gun Rights
A group of Florida residents challenging the federal policy disarming medical cannabis users is pointing to a recent Eighth Circuit ruling that they say supports their gun-rights position as they appeal in the Eleventh Circuit.
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February 11, 2025
Kratom Producers Hid 'Addictive' Risks, Consumers Say
Companies that make kratom are facing a proposed class action in New York federal court over sales of kratom, standing accused of not disclosing that the substance is just as addictive as opioids.
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February 11, 2025
Plaintiff Firm Sues More THC Makers In Potency Class Action
A pair of attorneys has hit another set of cannabis companies with a proposed class action in Illinois federal court, alleging they are selling goods that go beyond state limits on THC in cannabis-infused products.
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February 11, 2025
Pot Grower Says Nearby Farm's Pesticides Caused $17M Loss
A Massachusetts cannabis grower says pesticides used by an adjacent berry farm contaminated its entire 2022 harvest, costing the lost value of that crop and two subsequent years' revenue, totaling at least $17 million.
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February 10, 2025
Tenn. Cops Sued Over Traffic Stop Hemp Seizure
Tennessee police officers have been hit with claims that they unlawfully seized more than $850,000 of hemp during a traffic stop under the false belief that it was an illegal substance, according to a new suit filed Thursday.
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February 10, 2025
Ala. Sen. Files Bill To Ban THC In Hemp Products
Alabama Republican Sen. Tim Melson has filed a bill that would ban products that contain delta-8, delta-9 and delta-10 — which it identifies as psychoactive substances — from sale in the state.
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February 10, 2025
Jazz Pharma Drops Last Defendant From Epidiolex Patent Suit
Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. has reached an agreement to dismiss all claims and counterclaims with the last remaining defendant in its consolidated lawsuits over patents covering its epilepsy treatment Epidiolex, according to a filing from the company in New Jersey federal court.
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February 10, 2025
Kratom Co. Says False Ad Addiction Suit Falls Short
The company behind Kryptic Kratom and K-Chill branded supplements is urging a California federal court to throw out a suit alleging it concealed kratom's addictive qualities from consumers, saying the complaint fails to shore up its claims with factual allegations.
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February 07, 2025
Pa. Medical Pot Co. Beats Consultant's IP Breach Claims
A Pennsylvania federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by a consultant claiming that his methods for growing plant tissue samples was stolen by a medical cannabis company he worked with, ruling that the consultant's system was not a protected trade secret.
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February 07, 2025
GOP Sens. File Bill To Make Pot Co. Tax Penalty Permanent
Republican U.S. senators have filed a bill that would bar cannabis companies from taking business deductions even if cannabis is taken off of Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act.
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February 07, 2025
Too Early To Challenge RI Pot License Plan, Judge Finds
A Rhode Island federal judge has dismissed two suits challenging the state's social equity cannabis licensing program, saying the Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission hasn't set its rules yet, so the issue isn't ripe for judicial review.
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February 06, 2025
Buyers Want Kratom Cos. Addiction Suit To Go On
Two California kratom manufacturers shouldn't be allowed to escape a lawsuit claiming they failed to warn about the "highly addictive" nature of their products, a proposed class of consumers argued, pointing to a podcast where a company executive suggested their products were more potent than morphine.
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February 06, 2025
SEC's Dealer Suit May Criminalize Major Investors, Funds Say
The hedge fund industry has urged the Eighth Circuit on to overturn a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission victory against a penny stock trader, arguing that the SEC's case threatens to "make a felon of every institutional investor" by declaring them unregistered securities dealers.
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February 06, 2025
Anti-Legalization Group Vows To Go On 'Offense'
The head of a leading anti-drug nonprofit on Thursday pledged to go on the offensive by lobbying to undo the federal law legalizing intoxicating hemp, fighting a pending proposal to loosen federal cannabis restrictions and attempting to reverse state-level legalization.
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February 06, 2025
Ex-Worker Hits Pot Giant Cresco With Wrongful Firing Suit
A former kitchen agent for Cresco Labs LLC is suing the cannabis giant in Illinois federal court, alleging she was wrongly fired after a workplace injury and was not afforded time off as required under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
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February 06, 2025
Pot Co. Jushi Can't End Rival Shop's Antitrust Claims
Cannabis distributor Jushi Holdings could plausibly be shown to have taken advantage of a Massachusetts town's retail marijuana permitting process and conspired with the sellers of a shop it purchased in 2021 to block a competitor from opening nearby, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge​​​​​​​ at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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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.