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Cannabis
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May 20, 2024
Pa. Rehab Center Worker's Firing Suit Filed Too Late
A Pennsylvania appeals panel won't reinstate a wrongful termination suit by a former rehabilitation center worker who says she was wrongly fired for using medical cannabis, rejecting her argument that her claims should be subject to a six-year statute of limitations instead of two years.
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May 17, 2024
Bong Co. Can't Get Early Win In TM Suit Over No-Show Opponent
The maker of Stündenglass-branded glass infusers was denied a win over a retailer that didn't bother to put up a defense against its trademark infringement suit, after a California federal judge accepted a magistrate's report that the litigious manufacturer still couldn't back up its claims.
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May 17, 2024
NY Discovery Reform Feud Simmers Between DAs, Defenders
Four years after New York imposed new requirements on prosecutors to more promptly hand over evidence to defendants in criminal cases, data suggests that district attorneys’ offices are still struggling to comply. In the meantime, experts and advocates say many are quietly working to tweak the reforms or potentially scale them back.
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May 17, 2024
Pot Co. Can Amend Complaint Or Reply To Dismissal Motion
A Michigan federal judge has given a cannabis company three weeks to either amend its complaint against a former business partner or respond to a motion to dismiss its claims that the former business partner sabotaged a project by convincing investors to put their money elsewhere.
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May 17, 2024
Tilray To Raise Money For Deals Amid US Pot Policy Change
Cannabis lifestyle and consumer packaged goods company Tilray Brands Inc. on Friday said it plans to raise money to fund future acquisitions and expansion, in an announcement that comes just one day after President Joe Biden revealed that his administration is formally relaxing restrictions on marijuana.
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May 16, 2024
11th Circ. Denies Ayahuasca Church's Bid For Rehearing
The Eleventh Circuit has refused to grant an en banc rehearing to a Florida church that wanted to use ayahuasca as a sacrament, leaving in place an appellate ruling that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration properly denied a religious exemption from federal law against the psychedelic substance.
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May 16, 2024
Pa. Pot Co. Says No Deal To Breach In Growth IP Suit
A Pennsylvania cannabis cultivator is asking a federal court to dismiss a suit claiming it broke an oral agreement with a consulting firm and continued to use the firm's trade secrets, saying no oral contract existed, nor was the firm's information trade secrets.
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May 16, 2024
HUD Calls Pa. Medical Marijuana Housing Suit Premature
A Pennsylvania housing authority and two would-be residents acted hastily in suing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, since HUD hadn't formally threatened to pull the authority's funding over a state court order to offer assistance to medical marijuana users, a HUD lawyer told a federal judge Thursday.
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May 16, 2024
Biden Admin Proposes To Loosen Restrictions On Marijuana
President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that his administration has formally recommended relaxing restrictions on marijuana, marking the most significant federal policy shift on cannabis since the drug was criminalized more than 50 years ago.
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May 15, 2024
Calif. Atty Tells 4th Circ. Dormant Commerce Applies To Pot
A California lawyer who has filed lawsuits challenging state and local cannabis licensure programs spearheaded an appeal at the Fourth Circuit asking it to find that the dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution applies to federally illegal marijuana.
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May 15, 2024
'Excellent' Altria MDL Deal Earns Attys Fees Above Benchmark
A California federal judge on Wednesday awarded $13.65 million in plaintiffs' attorney fees as part of tobacco giant Altria's $45.5 million deal resolving consumer claims in multidistrict litigation alleging the company helped fuel a youth vaping crisis created by e-cigarette maker Juul, saying the "excellent result" merited fees above the normal 25% benchmark.
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May 15, 2024
Prosecutors Fight Full Court Review Of 'Double Odor' Pot Test
North Carolina prosecutors said no review is necessary on a state appellate court's opinion which found that the smell of marijuana combined with the "strong odor of a cologne" as a "cover scent" is enough to give police officers probable cause to search a vehicle, highlighting the hostile tone in the appellant's bid.
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May 15, 2024
Daimler Settles Worker's Suit Claiming Pot Test Got Him Fired
Daimler Truck North America LLC has settled an employee's New Jersey federal court suit claiming he was illegally fired over a positive cannabis test following an accident in a company vehicle, even though he wasn't found at fault for the incident, according to a Wednesday court filing.
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May 15, 2024
Startup Consultant Hits Hemp Co. With $2.1M Fee Suit
A consulting firm focused on helping startup companies raise capital is taking an industrial hemp firm, its owners and a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan's business school to Ohio federal court over $2.1 million in consulting fees it says it never got to collect.
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May 15, 2024
Hemp Co. Settles Sales Dispute With Fla. Regulators
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has inked a deal with a hemp-product maker that accused the agency of overstepping its bounds and using stop-sale orders to block it from selling its hemp products outside the state.
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May 14, 2024
Cannabis Co., Wrigley Heir Settle $7M Investor Suit
An investor that sank $7.4 million into cannabis operator Parallel has settled its suit with the company and its former CEO and heir to the Wrigley chewing gum fortune, according to a mediation report filed in Florida federal court.
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May 14, 2024
Cos. Ask NY Court To Invalidate 100s Of Pot Licenses
New York state's beleaguered cannabis oversight agency has been hit with another lawsuit, this one seeking to invalidate hundreds of retail licenses that regulators issued to those most directly affected by the enforcement of marijuana prohibition laws.
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May 14, 2024
Mass. Pot Shop Ordered To Recognize Union, Rehire Workers
A Massachusetts cannabis retailer found to have engaged in union busting must recognize and bargain with a United Food and Commercial Workers local and offer to rehire two fired union supporters, a federal judge ordered Tuesday.
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May 14, 2024
California Pot Worker's Suit Alleges Slurs, Unpaid Overtime
A former worker for a cannabis cultivator and distributor is suing his former employer in California state court, saying he was fired in retaliation for reporting a work environment rife with racial discrimination.
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May 13, 2024
US Tells DC Circ. Ayahuasca Church's Settlement Inapt
Federal regulators are telling the D.C. Circuit to ignore a recent settlement that will allow a Phoenix-based church to continue using ayahuasca in its ceremonies, saying it has nothing to do with the Iowa-based ayahuasca church challenging the IRS's refusal to give it tax-exempt status.
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May 13, 2024
Alaska House Passes Bill To Levy 7% Marijuana Retail Tax
Alaska would update its marijuana tax regime by levying a 7% tax on sales and phasing out the current $50 per ounce excise tax as part of a bill passed by the state House of Representatives.
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May 13, 2024
Medical Pot Patient Drops Discrimination Suit Against US Steel
A former U.S. Steel Corp. employee who says he was wrongly fired for using medically licensed marijuana off the job has quietly dropped his race and disability discrimination suit against the company, according to a filing in Pennsylvania federal court.
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May 10, 2024
NY Gov. Orders Shakeup Of Cannabis Regulatory Agency
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday announced an overhaul of the state's embattled cannabis regulatory agency, unveiling an investigative audit that showed how "inexperienced" leaders "wasted valuable time and resources," and then declaring $5 million in one-time grants would be awarded to a select group of applicants who took a financial hit by the licensing delays.
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May 10, 2024
Texas Man Gambled Away Hemp Biz Investments, SEC Claims
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed suit in Colorado against a Texas man and his purported hemp industry investment businesses, alleging he spent over half of nearly $1.3 million raised from investors over three years on sustaining a lifestyle involving full-time gambling.
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May 10, 2024
NJ State Police Settle Suit Over Expungements Backlog
The New Jersey State Police agreed to speed up the processing of expungements to resolve the Office of the Public Defender's proposed class claims over a backlog of judicial orders that numbered 46,000 as of October, Attorney General Matt Platkin and Public Defender Jennifer N. Sellitti said in a joint statement Friday.
Expert Analysis
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Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
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Opinion
Intoxicating Hemp Products: It's High Time For Clarity
Thanks to ambiguity in the 2018 Farm Bill, intoxicating hemp cannabinoid products are largely unregulated and are widely available without restrictions on who can buy the products, and although there are several possible solutions, voluntary industry action by good actors is the best option, say Andrew Kline and Tommy Tobin at Perkins Coie.
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What Rescheduling Could Mean For Cannabis Bankruptcies
Bankruptcy courts have historically been closed for cannabis-related businesses, but recent case law coupled with a possible reclassification of cannabis provides cautious optimism, say attorneys at Duane Morris.
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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Document Retention Best Practices To Lower Litigation Risks
As new technologies emerge and terabytes of data can be within the purview of a single discovery request, businesses small and large should take four document management steps to effectively minimize risks of litigation and discovery sanctions long before litigation ensues, says Kimbrilee Weber at Norris McLaughlin.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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Cannabis Case Lights Up Benefits Of Creative IP Protection
A recently filed California federal court case, The Holding Company v. Pacific West Distributors, illustrates potential creative strategies cannabis companies can use to build intellectual property rights, such as combining federal and state registrations for copyrights and trademarks, say attorneys at Seyfarth.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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CSA Case Could Shift Intrastate Commercial Cannabis
In Canna Provisions v. Merrick Garland, cannabis companies argue that the Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to intrastate commercial cannabis activity; the Massachusetts federal court's eventual decision will be important to the cannabis industry for several reasons, including that the threat of federal enforcement would disappear overnight, says Hilary Bricken at Husch Blackwell.
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What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.
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Tips On Numerical Range From Fed. Circ. Philip Morris Ruling
The Federal Circuit's recent RAI v. Philip Morris decision that a patent provided sufficient written description to support a claimed numerical range offers several takeaways for practitioners, including the need for a cautious approach to criticism of ranges, say attorneys at BCLP.
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What's At Play In Rising Lanham Act Cases At The ITC
Amid an uptick in Lanham Act claims involving false advertising related to medical devices at the U.S. International Trade Commission, Brian Busey and Maryrose McLaughlin at MoFo discuss recent ITC complaints from Eli Lilly and R.J. Reynolds, Lanham Act claim limits under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the issues practitioners face in this realm.
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Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.
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A New Push To Clear Up Marijuana's Foggy Legal Status
A recently publicized U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommendation to reschedule marijuana has reignited discourse over the drug's federal legal status — and although rescheduling would mitigate the legal risks for the industry and drastically increase the resources available for industry participants, the path forward will not be clear cut, say Joseph Cioffi and Louis DiLorenzo at Davis+Gilbert.