Dale C. Hunt, PhD, JD, provides guidance and expertise on patents and intellectual property matters. Dale has extensive experience with patent protection, with a technical emphasis in life sciences (cellular biology, genetics, genomics, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, pharmaceuticals, protein engineering, stem cells, transgenics and vaccines); environmental technology (alternative energy, carbon-emissions credits and exchanges, oil and gas technologies, solar energy, natural products and water purification systems); materials and manufacturing (filters and filtration systems, metal fibers and alloys); medical devices and procedures (nucleic acid diagnostics, sensors and instrumentation and surgical devices and methods); and plants (agriculture, plant genetics, plant patents and plant-variety protection).  Dale also has experience with patent portfolio management and strategy advice, international intellectual property matters, right-to-practice and product-launch opinions, intellectual property due diligence, and licensing.

Dale also started a Cannabis IP practice to aid clients in establishing strong intellectual property protection for their legal marijuana strains, products and businesses. The approaches to such protection include U.S. plant patents and utility patents; state and common-law trademark strategies, protection, and enforcement; and federal trademark protection for federally legal allied products and services. His expertise also extends to other forms of protection for Cannabis businesses, including licensing of intellectual property, which can encompass protection of know-how and trade secrets related to cultivation and processing techniques; international plant breeders’ rights and related commercialization and enforcement strategies; as well as various other approaches that have been successful for his clients in the fruit and floral markets but which Cannabis companies have yet to attempt.

Having started as a botanist and plant geneticist, Dale continued his study of plant biology at the cellular and molecular level, completing a PhD at UC San Diego. Dale then went on to UC Berkeley for law school.  In addition to his diverse patent practice as described above, he has worked his entire career helping clients protect and commercialize their proprietary plant varieties in the U.S. and over 20 foreign countries. Dale has spoken on IP protection at the Marijuana Business Convention in Washington, D.C.  He has also been interviewed for and quoted in numerous news articles and by national media outlets on the topic of marijuana and patenting.

Cannabis Business Attorney

Wicker Law Group

San Diego, CA

Whitney Hodges is a partner in the Real Estate, Energy, Land Use & Environmental Practice Group in the firm's San Diego office. She is the leader of the firm’s Cannabis Industry Team and serves on the firm's Pro Bono, Recruiting and Diversity & Inclusion committees, as well as numerous industry specific teams.

Areas of Practice

Whitney's practice focuses on the representation of clients involved in real estate development. She advises and represents major residential, industrial, commercial and mixed-use development projects, as well as Native American Indian tribes and renewable energy developers through all phases of the land use regulatory process and environmental compliance. Her land use experience includes real estate due diligence investigations, negotiating and drafting development agreements, processing land use entitlements, advising tribal governments on environmental and natural resources law, and appearing before governmental agencies and commissions. She also represents developers and management in traditional labor law issues, including union negotiations. Whitney also advises cannabis companies and ancillary businesses on state and local regulatory compliance and real estate transactions.

Real Estate Development

Real estate development has grown increasingly complex and controversial requiring knowledge of applicable federal, state and local laws, as well as the ability to work with a wide range of diverse interests including governmental agency staff, elected officials, landowners, environmental organizations and citizen groups. Whitney’s ability to work with such diverse interests to develop creative, practical and economical solutions is demonstrated by her involvement in the successful approval and permitting of multiple residential, commercial, industrial and mix-used developments during the past several years. Current projects include redevelopment, infill and mixed-use developments throughout southern California, including San Diego, Los Angeles and Riverside counties.

Environmental Compliance

Whitney has assisted public and private sector clients in obtaining permits and approvals from various federal agencies, and has successfully guided clients through the maze of federal, state and local environmental clearances necessary for development including the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California Fish and Game Code, Subdivision Map Act, California Community Redevelopment Law (including associated dissolution legislation and successor statutes), California Coastal Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, California Superfund Law, Tribal-State Compacts, and Multiple Species Conservation Programs (MSCP).

Whitney also has significant experience in working closely with clients and consultants on due diligence review of land use issues, which includes local zoning ordinances, general plans, redevelopment agency plans, and related land use restrictions. Her working knowledge of environmental constraints and the development process proves invaluable when investigating the potential purchase of real estate and the subsequent preparation of acquisition documents.

Litigation

An experienced litigator, Whitney has handled actions involving development disputes, environmental compliance, real estate transactions, and union disputes. She has represented developers in complex civil litigation and defended challenges to development approvals.

Whitney serves as general counsel for the San Diego Humane Society and is on the Board of Directors for YWCA.  Whitney is a registered lobbyist with the City of San Diego, the County of San Diego, San Diego Regional Airport Authority, the San Diego Port Authority and the City of Los Angeles. Additionally, Whitney also is a committed pro bono attorney and, in 2016, she was honored with the firm’s Bob Gerber Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award in recognition of her commitment to volunteering legal services to those in need.

Jessica C. McElfresh of McElfresh Law, Inc. has worked in cannabis law and policy since 2010. 
She is the Chair of the International Cannabis Bar Association’s Professional Responsibility and 
Ethics Committee and a member of its Board of Directors.  Jessica focuses on local and state 
applications, land use, regulatory compliance, and business law.  She represents cannabis 
retailers, distributors, cultivators, manufacturers, and testing labs, as well as landlords and 
ancillary businesses.  She has guided clients through successful applications in jurisdictions such 
as the City of San Diego, La Mesa, and the County of San Diego.   

Jessica has authored or advised on nearly ten local ballot measures to regulate cannabis 
businesses.  Successes include Measure U in La Mesa and Measure V in Lemon Grove in 2016 
and Measure H in Encinitas in 2020.  As part of this work, Jessica has won writs of mandate at 
the local and appellate level to compel local governments and registrars of voters to accept 
petitions and count voter signatures. 

Jessica represents people facing discipline or loss of state and local licenses, particularly in the 
cannabis industry.  She began her career in criminal defense and continues to take select cases.  
Jessica has unique experience with the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege and the 
duties of an attorney under investigation or facing criminal charges.   

Outside of her law practice, Jessica is an advocate for cannabis and broader drug policy reform.  
She is an advisory board member for A New PATH, an organization dedicated to promoting 
therapeutic rather than punitive drug policies.  Jessica served as a consultant for the American 
Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California about how Proposition 64 affects 
criminal justice reform and individual rights.   

Jessica grew up in San Diego and graduated summa cum laude from Scripps College before 
attending the University of San Diego School of Law on a Dean’s Honor Scholarship.  She has 
spoken at conferences and taught continuing legal education classes for organizations and law 
schools including the National Cannabis Industry Association Business Summit & Expo, California Lawyers Associatoin,
Practicing Law Institute, International Cannabis Bar Association, San Diego County Bar 
Association, and University of San Diego School of Law.  Her publications include “Attorney 
Ethics and Cannabis: Conflicts of Laws, Conflicts of Interest, and Attorney-Client Privilege for 
Cannabis Practitioners” (CLA Real Property Journal Vol. 38, No. 4 2020).