Aaron Pelley, a Seattle attorney specializing in the cannabis industry who briefly handled a lawsuit against SMRB, said he expects to see more investor litigation involving the state’s cannabis industry. Although intense competition and high taxes have made cannabis a low-margin business for many players, Pelley said, it continues to attract entrepreneurs and investors, many of whom will be disappointed in the results of even honestly run operations.

“It’s still really sexy and cool to think you can own or be part of the ownership interest in a cannabis company and I don’t think the messaging has really gotten out that farming is hard work and retail is limited,” Pelley said. The industry is still “so nascent and so many more companies are failing than succeeding.”

The hidden-ownership rules are well-intended but misguided, said Aaron Pelley, a lawyer who has represented companies with violations.

“I don’t think cartels would invest or ever have invested because they don’t want to be in a highly regulated and taxed industry,” Pelley said.

And as they increasingly expand internationally, they will need to manage their reputation and won’t want to be known for eluding courts and skipping out on legal bills, says Dan Harris with the law firm Harris Moure in Seattle.

But for now at least, Harris says the Chinese can’t always fathom how U.S. courts operate, aren’t used to judges who are mostly immune to bribes and don’t understand the consequences of defying court orders.