Close-up of hands holding a cannabis plant next to text reading "Harris Sliwoski Cannabis Receiverships Q&A," and a play button icon.

Cannabis Receivership Q&A Webinar: The Replay

For anyone who couldn’t attend last Wednesday’s webinar on cannabis receiverships, we are pleased to present the replay video below. It’s also hosted on YouTube, here. This webinar covered a lot of ground, and it was certainly timely. The following afternoon, reporting broke that Harborside, one of the biggest names in cannabis, was pushed into

cannabis industry

Saving Oregon’s Cannabis Industry

Though the cannabis industry is one of America’s most lucrative new industries — with estimates that it will reach approximately $58 billion in sales by 2028 — the markets in several recreational states are suffering severe financial harm. In states like Oregon, the problems have gotten so out of hand that businesses are even pulling

olcc license as security

Oregon Cannabis: The OLCC License as Security

Can a creditor, landlord or other third party take a security interest in an OLCC license? Can an OLCC licensee collateralize or pledge its license– as if that license were personal property, and not just a permission conferred by the state? These are two sides of an academic question we’ve been batting around for years

chalice

Chalice Receivership Update: Weak Market, Insiders Pounce

I’ve been writing about the Chalice receivership process since late May, when Chalice Brands Ltd. (OTCMKTS: CHALF) filed an Oregon Circuit Court complaint. In that Oregon lawsuit, Chalice brought claims against five local subsidiaries to drive them into receivership, claiming some $35 million owed. The lawsuit was orchestrated with a parallel Canadian proceeding. Up north,

cannabis businesses

Strategies for Distressed Cannabis Businesses

It’s pretty easy to write about everything that’s going wrong in today’s cannabis industry. Today, I want to change gears and talk about some of the strategies we’ve seen work for distressed cannabis businesses in the past. Yes, some of these strategies may seem obvious at first. But pulling them off correctly – especially in

california cannabis receivership

Cannabis Receiverships Are Coming to California

California’s cannabis industry is a mess. Between the rampant illegal market, onerous taxation, unnecessarily complicated regulations, debt defaults, and a host of other factors, things have never been worse. Businesses big and small are imploding. Without federal bankruptcy protection, the best tool available to insolvent and nearly insolvent companies is gone. So we’re going to

oregon cannabis

Oregon Cannabis Round-Up: Chalice Receivership, New Tax Rules, New Laws

It’s been an eventful month in Oregon cannabis. Below are some early summer notes on three things we’ve been doing and watching and writing about. The Chalice receivership I covered this last month as the ship was going down. Today, the Oregon receivership is well underway and we’re getting regular notices. It hasn’t been smooth

Promotional image for the 36th Annual NW Bankruptcy Conference. Event details: Friday, April 14 at 9:30 am PST. Speaker: Vince Sliwoski from Harris Sliwoski LLP on "The Business of Cannabis & Bankruptcy.

The Business of Cannabis & Bankruptcy: April 14 in Portland

Harris Sliwoski’s Vince Sliwoski (Portland) will present in-person next Friday, April 14 at the 36th annual Northwest Bankruptcy Institute. Vince will join Dominique Scalia of DBS Law (Seattle) as they cover “The Business of Cannabis and Bankruptcy.” This event is co-sponsored by sections of the Oregon State Bar and Washington State Bar. Details on the

cannabis bankruptcy

New Opinion Confirms Growing Trend Away from “Zero Tolerance” Cannabis Bankruptcy Relief Policy

As those in the cannabis industry are fully aware, the option of bankruptcy has not been available to cannabis or many cannabis-adjacent businesses to date. The courts have consistently indicated debtors who work in the cannabis industry or derive meaningful income from cannabis activity (directly or indirectly) cannot use bankruptcy, a federal mechanism, so long

distressed cannabis businesses

Distressed Cannabis Business Takeaways

On February 28th, we put on a webinar on “Distressed Cannabis Businesses” webinar. In that webinar, Griffen, Ethan, and Vince discussed the current financial and economic pressure the entire cannabis industry is facing today. We covered reorganization, litigation, dissolution, M&A, receivership, secured interests, and liquidation. And we of course discussed how state-by-state cannabis regulations impacts all