Cannabis in Interstate Commerce

Brandon Wyatt Related Seminars and Products

Principal Attorney

Wyatt Legal & Consulting

Brandon Wyatt is a decorated army combat soldier and disabled veteran. He received his J.D. from Howard University School of Law and is admitted to practice in Maryland. Mr. Wyatt is a member of the Board of Directors of the Minority Cannabis Business Association and currently serves as the organization’s Secretary. His legal career has included drug and civil rights policy work at the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, delivering both state and federal labor and employment representation, conducting investigations, writing final agency decisions, facilitating contract negotiation and interpretation, small business and entrepreneurial development, real estate development and management, ensuring compliance settlement/coordination within federal courts and administrative agencies and providing representation at arbitration.

In 2014, Mr. Wyatt and partners Todd Hughes and James Smaugh founded the Washington, D.C. firm EntreVation (Entrepreneurship + Innovation) to foster corporate social responsibility and advocate for veteran and minority access to medicine and business in the cannabis industry. The EntreVation team has sponsored and produced numerous events and classes and has met with federal and state legislators, business owners, representatives of law schools, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the White House and many others to discuss and advocate for equity in the industry.

Since 2016, he has been awarded multiple grants to assist the Maryland state cannabis program address diversity-related issues and has taught several state-funded cannabis applicant workshops as well as lectured for Patients Out of Time and the Weed for Warriors Project.

Phillip Neiman Related Seminars and Products

Mediator & Arbitrator

NeimanADR

Phillip Neiman, Esq., FCIArb is a mediator and arbitrator, specializing in the resolution of complex business and commercial disputes. He devotes much of his practice to securities and investment-related cases, including shareholder, partnership and M&A disputes, and has substantial experience resolving employment, insurance, intellectual property, professional liability and privacy tort cases. His subspecialties include fintech, blockchain, cryptocurrency and cannabis sector disputes. Prior to establishing his ADR practice in 2004, Mr. Neiman spent a decade as CEO and General Counsel of a FINRA-registered investment bank. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Swarthmore College (High Honors, Phi Beta Kappa), a J.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Based in San Francisco, Mr. Neiman hears cases nationwide.  

Marc Hauser Related Seminars and Products

Chief of Staff

Jardín Premium Cannabis Dispensary

Marc Hauser is widely recognized as one of the leading advisors to the U.S. cannabis industry. Prior to forming Hauser Advisory, Marc was a deal and capital markets lawyer for 24 years, and led the cannabis practice group at global law firm Reed Smith LLP. Peer review Chambers USA and Legal 500 named him as a Leading Lawyer who “knows the [cannabis] industry and players through and through.” Within the industry, Marc has represented market-leading operators and ancillary businesses; private equity, venture capital, hedge, and credit funds; banks and REITs; investment banks and service providers; and CPG and SaaS companies. 

Previously, Marc served as internal deal counsel at Equity Group Investments, a private investment company founded by the late Sam Zell. Marc advised Sam and his team for 15 years on billions of dollars of complex investment, acquisition, and restructuring transactions across industries and asset classes, developing a deep understanding of capital markets, opportunistic investing, tax structuring, and distressed situations. 

Marc’s widely-read weekly newsletter, Cannabis Musings (cannabismusings.substack.com), has provided a unique perspective on the cannabis industry since 2018. 

He holds a BA from Northwestern University (‘95), and a JD (cum laude) from the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law (‘98), where he was a member of the Law Review, and is currently an Adjunct Professor co-teaching Cannabis Law, Business & Policy.

Irina Dashevsky Related Seminars and Products

Partner and Co-Chair of the Cannabis Practice Group

Greenspoon Marder LLP

Irina Dashevsky is a partner and co-chair of the Cannabis Law practice group at Greenspoon Marder. Ms. Dashevsky advises clients on legal, regulatory, and legislative developments in the highly regulated and competitive cannabis industry. She is also a seasoned commercial litigator. Ms. Dashevsky represents a range of cannabis clients, including public multi-state operators, state-licensed dispensaries, cultivators, infusers, distributors, new social equity entrants, ancillary businesses, and those looking to enter the cannabis space. Her practice includes nearly every aspect of the cannabis industry, from state-level licensing, real estate, regulatory and compliance to litigation and M&A. Ms. Dashevsky is a sought-after resource for her knowledge of the rapidly evolving cannabis industry across the U.S., and in particular in Illinois and New York, and her ability to help cannabis and hemp related businesses navigate the complex legal landscape.

Over the past several years, Ms. Dashevsky has been at the forefront of cannabis law and holds an active role in Illinois’ cannabis law community as a champion for the industry. She was recognized among Law360’s “Rising Stars” in Cannabis Law for 2021. Considered a thought leader, Ms. Dashevsky frequently publishes and presents about legal issues facing the cannabis industry. Notably, Ms. Dashevsky also serves as a member of Law360’s 2021 Cannabis Editorial Advisory Board. She is currently a member of the Illinois Women in Cannabis organization and previously served as Chair for the Steering Committee for the Chicago Bar Association Leadership Institute.

As a seasoned litigator, Irina Dashevsky has extensive experience managing and resolving consumer finance and real estate related disputes for clients throughout all stages of litigation in federal and state court. She has handled a wide range of matters, including insurance coverage defense, consumer finance defense, contract disputes, government contracts and regulation, gaming, real estate and complex mortgage foreclosures. Ms. Dashevsky concentrates on representing financial institutions in individual and class action lawsuits arising under myriad state and federal consumer protection statutes, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Truth in Lending Act; and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Prior to joining Greenspoon Marder, Ms. Dashevsky was a partner at Locke Lord and served as Co-Chair of Locke Lord’s Cannabis Industry Group and as Co-Editor of the firm’s Cannabis Law Blog.

Adam Smith Related Seminars and Products

Founder and President

Alliance for Sensible Markets

In a career spanning more than two decades, Adam has been sole or collaborative founder of a series of successful non-profits and public policy campaigns, has served on the boards of directors for statewide and national civic engagement organizations, led teams of nurses in collective bargaining negotiations across Oregon, lobbied members of Congress and state legislatures, advised non-profit and for- profit clients on a range of issues, and was a founding partner in a company bringing Pacific Northwest craft beer and artisan wine to Hawaii. In 1996, Adam launched the nation’s first online newsmagazine and syndicated radio news show focused entirely on domestic and international drug policy reform. In 1998, he conceptualized and launched the Higher Education Act Reform Campaign, which won back the right to federal financial aid for students with drug convictions. As part of the HEA campaign, he shepherded the founding of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the world’s largest student-led drug policy reform organization, now active in more than forty states and 25 countries, and recognized as an NGO at the United Nations. In 2002, Adam joined the founding board of directors of the Oregon Bus Project, and in 2004, helped launch the League of Young Voters, a national civic engagement organization working with young people of color. In 2006, Adam launched the Vote By Mail Project, which successfully expanded access to mail-in voting in multiple states, most notably moving Colorado to full vote by mail elections. Adam received his B.A. in Urban Studies from the City University of New York, and his J.D. from the Boston University School of Law. He lives in Portland, Oregon. Adam’s writing on drug policy and civic engagement has appeared in more than 40 print and online publications, including REASON Magazine, The Guardian UK, Mother Jones Online, Alternet, and The Razorwire. He has also produced chapters for the books Busted; Stone Cowboys, Narco Lords, and America’s War on Drugs, (Mike Gray, Ed.), Drug Trafficking (Auriana Ojeda, Ed.) and How To Get Stupid White Men Out of Office (Billy Wimsatt and Adrienne Maree Brown, Eds.).