Cannabis & Hemp Law
Today’s multi-billion dollar global cannabis industry was born in the San Francisco Bay Area and LPS attorneys have been deeply involved from its inception. From litigating seminal cases defending the nation’s first medical marijuana laws and protecting California’s pioneering patient collectives, to helping draft the 2016 Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) ballot initiative that established the framework for California’s regulated commercial cannabis and hemp markets, to guiding many of the early-adopters through the state’s new licensing and compliance processes, LPS lawyers have helped shape the industry’s law and policy terrain while providing trusted counsel to its trailblazers and influencers.
Past and present clients include medicinal and adult-use, non-profit and for-profit cultivators, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, micro-businesses, investors, and others involved in the emerging cannabis and hemp industries.
At LPS, we understand that, beyond the uniquely complex and evolving licensing and compliance challenges faced by today’s cannabis entrepreneurs, they also need sound advice and expert assistance concerning the multitude of legal issues that more traditional businesses must navigate to succeed and prosper. The LPS Cannabis & Hemp Law practice group offers our clients a truly unparalleled “one-stop-shop” combining deep cannabis-specific law and policy expertise with commensurate expertise in a broad array of related practice areas, including:
Business: corporate formation, capitalization, reorganization, restructuring, mergers, acquisitions and sales, business operations, commercial contracts, data privacy, distribution and licensing agreements, service agreements, buy-sell and buy-out agreements, separation and termination agreements, professional and executive compensation, and management succession planning, and; a full suite of related General Counsel services;
Regulatory Compliance: permit application drafting and review, advising on current and proposed guidelines and regulations, inspection readiness, and policy drafting;
Commercial Real Estate: transactions and litigation concerning all facets of acquisition, disposition, financing, development, leasing, and operation of real property and structuring and implementing IRS section 1031 real property exchanges;
Business Litigation: in state and federal trial and appellate courts and before administrative boards and agencies, including disputes over contracts, labor and employment, land use, and real estate; corporate and partnership disagreements, copyright and trademark infringement and tax-related litigation before the U.S. Tax Court and other federal and California courts;
Intellectual Property: including State and Federal trademark selection and protection, copyright registration and infringement, prosecution, trade-secret matters, technology transfers, product marketing, distribution and licensing;
Mediation and Arbitration: services for disputes involving, among other areas, banking and commercial transactions; construction defects; labor and employment; insurance claims; partnership and other corporate entity matters; commercial contracts, and; real estate matters
Tax Law: tax-related advice and advocacy, including optimizing tax results through choice of entity formation; income and corporate & personal tax planning; advocacy concerning Planning, Assessor’s and Board of Equalization administrative procedures;
Banking and Finance: matters relating to disclosure, access.
For additional information about our Cannabis & Hemp Law practice, contact a lawyer at LPS.
