Federal Law

Federal Court Dismisses RICO Claims: Remedies Would Violate Federal Law

RICO claims in the cannabis industry have certainly evolved over the years, but the general trend of the Courts dismissing those claims or cases altogether has held fast. In Shulman, et al. v. Kaplan, et al., a case filed in the Central District of California, the plaintiffs – who are involved in the production, marketing, and

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The Challenge to Watch: Sisley, et al. v. DEA

With the evolution of the United States’ relationship with cannabis over recent decades, numerous parties have petitioned the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) to reschedule marijuana. As we all know, the DEA has routinely refused to accept or denied each and every petition, minus one that yielded very specific changes for a synthetic cannabis drug.

just say no on a chalkboard

Investment and Securities Litigation – Handshake Deals Are Not. Your. Friend.

We’ve been monitoring and reporting on the growing trend of investment and securities fraud litigation in the cannabis industry, and this week brings yet another case. In Murray v. Camp, et al., Murray is suing three Washington entities and their principals for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, fraud, and violation of the Securities Act of

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Cannabis Securities Litigation: Alleged Failure to Disclose Material Information Leads to Federal Lawsuit

Keeping up with the multitude of (shifting) state and municipal cannabis regulations is a daunting task for any multi-state cannabis operator. One well-known tool for doing so has been CannaRegs, which offers a web-based subscription service to aggregate and organize cannabis rules, regulations, and legislation.  In January 2020, CannaRegs was acquired by Fyllo, “a digital

Veritas Farms Cannabis Litigation

Cannabis Trademark Litigation: Veritas Farms Files a Motion to Dismiss Against Veritas Fine Cannabis

Last month, my colleague Alison Malsbury reported on the trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Colorado-based Veritas Fine Cannabis (“VFC”) against Florida-based Veritas Farms. In her post covering the initiation of the lawsuit, Alison explains why the current legal landscape forces plaintiffs in such cases to rely on a two-part strategy of obtaining 1) state trademark

SEC Sues Cannabis

SEC Sues Cannabis Players for $25 Million Offering Fraud

In the most basic terms, offering fraud occurs when a person (or entity) makes material misrepresentations or omissions to potential investors in a new company (most commonly, promising those investors large “guaranteed” returns on their investments). Offering fraud cases have become more prominent in recent years, and it looks like the U.S. Securities and Exchange

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Jay-Z Has 99 Problems and ADA Compliance is One

Even before COVID-19 entered our lives, it was clear that more and more businesses were realizing the importance of engaging with consumers online. Now, as most are forced to limit their in-person activities or shut them down altogether, we are seeing an even sharper trend in businesses investing in their online presence – especially with

too bad in bold on english dictionary page

An Anti-Climactic End to the First Cannabis Patent Litigation?

Our last update on the first-ever cannabis patent case, United Cannabis Corporation (“UCANN”) v. Pure Hemp Collective, Inc. (“Pure Hemp”) was back in July 2019. A lot has changed in the world since then (although the case was largely unremarkable), and the possible ending to this once-deemed “pivotal” case for the industry may now face

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Cannabis Patent Holder UCANN Files for Bankruptcy. Will it Work?

Colorado-based United Cannabis Corporation (“UCANN”) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 22. Regular readers may recall that UCANN is the plaintiff in the first ever cannabis patent protection case which generally concerned liquid cannabinol formulations of a purified CBD and/or THC greater than 95%. That litigation is now stayed (paused) as a result