Cannabis

  • January 27, 2025

    Multiple Cannabis Cos. Hit With THC Potency Class Actions

    A single litigant has filed two proposed consumer class actions in Illinois federal court against cannabis companies, alleging that their wares exceeded lawful levels of psychoactive THC.

  • January 27, 2025

    Fla. Judge Won't Recuse Over 'Adverse Ruling' In CBD Row

    A Florida federal magistrate judge has refused to step down from a case where she recommended sanctioning an attorney representing a franchisee in a contract dispute with CBD American Shaman LLC, saying adverse rulings are not grounds for recusal.

  • January 24, 2025

    Biden Leaves Mixed Legacy On Criminal Justice Issues

    When he stepped into the White House in January 2021, former President Joe Biden brought with him an ambitious criminal justice agenda that aimed to satisfy both reformers and law enforcement advocates, but he never cleared that high bar, with a record of underappreciated successes and missed opportunities.

  • January 24, 2025

    Louisiana Urges Court To Toss New Challenge To Hemp Law

    Louisiana officials have renewed their push to defeat a federal lawsuit challenging the state's new hemp policy, which they said was not preempted by the federal law that legalized hemp nationwide.

  • January 24, 2025

    FDA's Premium Cigar Regulations Overturned By DC Circ.

    A D.C. Circuit panel ruled on Friday that the Food and Drug Administration acted arbitrarily when subjecting premium, hand-rolled cigars to the same regulations as other tobacco products, saying the agency was wrong to overlook two studies about infrequent premium cigar use.

  • January 23, 2025

    Vape Maker Seeks Exit From Suit Over Delta-9 THC Levels

    An Illinois-based vape maker urged a federal judge to toss a lawsuit accusing it of fraudulently passing off illicit Delta-9 products as legal Delta-8 ones, saying the suit lacks fundamental details, such as which products were purchased and what laboratory tested them.

  • January 23, 2025

    NM House Bill Would Boost Pot Regulators' Authority

    Lawmakers in New Mexico have introduced a bill to establish an enforcement bureau in the state's Regulation and Licensing Department and allow the Cannabis Control Division to prosecute violators of the Cannabis Regulation Act.

  • January 23, 2025

    Connecticut Lawmaker Files Cannabis Cafe Bill

    A Democratic Connecticut lawmaker on Wednesday introduced a bill to legalize Amsterdam-style cafes and restaurants where patrons can consume cannabis on-site.

  • January 23, 2025

    Colo. Panel Says Atty-Witness Rule Isn't Limited To Jury Trials

    A Colorado professional rule banning attorneys from advocating at trials where they are a "necessary witness" isn't limited to jury trials, a state appeals court ruled Thursday, affirming the disqualification of a lawyer who sought to represent a cannabis business that he once co-owned with his wife.

  • January 22, 2025

    Maryland Gov. Taps NY Official As New Cannabis Head

    Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Wednesday announced the appointment of a New York cannabis official to run the state's marijuana regulatory agency.

  • January 22, 2025

    Wyden Urges National Standard For Hemp Regulation

    Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., rallied on Wednesday for his bill that would beef up regulation of products with hemp-derived cannabinoids in order to protect consumers, particularly children.

  • January 22, 2025

    Logistics Cos. Say Workers' Tobacco Fee Suit Filed Too Late

    A pair of logistics companies are asking a Connecticut federal court to throw out a proposed class action alleging they violated federal law by not fully reimbursing employees who paid an additional tobacco-use fee on their healthcare, saying all the claims in the suit are barred by statutes of limitation.

  • January 21, 2025

    Ex-Cannabis Exec Hit With Insider Trading Charges

    A former executive of cannabis giant Verano Holdings and friends from his country club have been hit with both criminal charges and a civil lawsuit for insider trading, with the government alleging they bought stock in a rival cannabis company Verano had planned to acquire based on nonpublic information.

  • January 21, 2025

    Trump Taps Pot Legalization Opponent As Acting DEA Head

    A stalled effort to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana will be overseen, at least temporarily, by a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent who has previously spoken out against marijuana reform and specifically criticized the former administration's bid to recategorize the drug.

  • January 21, 2025

    Conn. Cannabis Co.'s Income Loss Not Covered, Judge Says

    A cannabis product manufacturer cannot get more than $1.3 million in business interruption coverage from a Berkshire Hathaway unit for a fire in one of its "flowering rooms," a Connecticut federal court ruled, finding it failed to establish a causal link between a suspension of operations and lost income.

  • January 21, 2025

    Medical Cannabis REIT Misled Investors, Suit Claims

    A medical cannabis-focused real estate investment trust lied to its shareholders about the profitability of its leasing operations and declining rents, a new suit has alleged in Maryland federal court.

  • January 21, 2025

    Justices Doubt Retailers Are 'Bystanders' In FDA Challenge

    Several U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared to agree Tuesday that Texas and Mississippi retailers could join a North Carolina e-cigarette manufacturer in challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's denial of its marketing application, and Justice Clarence Thomas questioned the agency's motivation to argue otherwise.

  • January 21, 2025

    Pot Co. Stiiizy Hit With Data Breach Suit

    An employee of cannabis retailer Stiiizy Inc. is suing the company in Los Angeles court, alleging that it failed to protect consumer and employee information, resulting in a data breach last year, and then went nearly three months without telling the victims what happened.

  • January 17, 2025

    Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year

    Law360 would like to congratulate the winners of its Practice Groups of the Year awards for 2024, which honor the attorney teams behind litigation wins and significant transaction work that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year.

  • January 17, 2025

    Law360 Names Firms Of The Year

    Eight law firms have earned spots as Law360's Firms of the Year, with 54 Practice Group of the Year awards among them, steering some of the largest deals of 2024 and securing high-profile litigation wins, including at the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • January 20, 2025

    Trump, Musk Sued By Nonprofits Over DOGE Transparency

    Public Citizen and other nonprofits hit the Trump administration with multiple lawsuits seeking to shut down the new Department of Government Efficiency in D.C. federal court Monday, alleging the Elon Musk-led advisory committee targeting government waste lacks requisite transparency guardrails to prevent DOGE from solely advancing private interests.

  • January 17, 2025

    Philip Morris' ZYN Nicotine Pouches Are 1st To Get FDA's OK

    Tobacco giant Philip Morris is the first to secure permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell nicotine pouches, with the agency allowing several flavored variants of the company's popular ZYN brand to hit the market after finding that the products could "benefit" smokers looking to quit cigarettes.

  • January 17, 2025

    Up Next At High Court: Forum Shopping & TCPA Definitions

    The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Tuesday for a short argument session, during which the justices will consider the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's bid to limit forum shopping by manufacturers challenging agency decisions and how much deference district courts must give to Federal Communications Commission orders.

  • January 17, 2025

    DEA Judge Kicks Pot Rescheduling Back To Administrator

    The Drug Enforcement Administration judge who paused hearings on a proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana has kicked the matter back to the agency's administrator after reformers said the DEA stacked the deck against changing pot's status.

  • January 17, 2025

    Pot Labs Say Mass. Co. Sold Dud Test Devices In $286M Suit

    The owners of more than two dozen cannabis testing labs across the United States and Canada have accused PerkinElmer Health Services Inc. of knowingly selling them equipment that it knew was incapable of handling the sort of tests the labs performed.

Expert Analysis

  • What The NYSE Proposed Delisting Rule Could Mean For Cos.

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    The New York Stock Exchange's recently proposed rule would provide the exchange with discretionary authority to commence delisting proceedings for a company substantially shifting its primary business focus, raising concerns for NYSE-listed companies over the exact definition of the exchange's proposed "substantially different" standard, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • 2 Regulatory Approaches To Psychedelic Clinical Trials

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    Comparing the U.S. and Canada's regulatory frameworks for clinical trials of psychedelic drugs can be useful for designing trial protocols that meet both countries' requirements, which can in turn help diversify patient populations, bolster data robustness and expedite market access, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Sabrina Ramkellawan at AxialBridge.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    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.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    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.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    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.

  • Investors Can Aid In The Acceptance Of Psychedelic Medicine

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    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.

  • Perspectives

    Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

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    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.

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Proposed Cannabis Reschedule Sidesteps State Law Effects

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    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.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    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.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    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.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    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.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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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