Fault Lines on Federal Policy Post Rescheduling

Kelly D. Fair Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Dentons

Kelly Fair is a partner in Dentons' Cannabis and Health Care practices and focuses on regulatory compliance, corporate transactions, corporate governance, and public policy, primarily in the cannabis and hemp industries.

With 18 years of in-house and major law firm experience advising high-growth, disruptor industry companies and boards, Kelly has an understanding and appreciation of the broad range of legal, regulatory, operational and financial considerations involved when working with clients in the cannabis and hemp markets.

Prior to rejoining Dentons, Kelly served as Canopy Growth Corporation's first-ever US General Counsel and Vice President of US and European affairs. There, she managed all of the company’s US and European legal and policy affairs, global mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and continuous disclosure. While navigating the limitations of US federal and securities laws related to cannabis and hemp-derived products, Kelly helped bring Canopy’s hemp-derived CBD products to market to the US market, including launching Canopy’s Martha Stewart brand. Kelly also developed innovative deal structures that grew the company’s US footprint and built a first-class US business, which led to creation of Canopy's newly formed US-domiciled holding company, Canopy USA, LLC. Within Dentons, Kelly serves as Canopy USA, LLC’s external US General Counsel, providing all legal services to the holding company and its $600M operating assets under management.

Mr. Michael Joseph Heaton, Esq. Related Seminars and Products

Of Counsel

Ice Miller LLP

Joe Heaton is an experienced government affairs, policy and communications professional with nearly 20 years of experience working in the food and beverage, cannabis, tech and life sciences industries.

Skilled in state, federal and global policymaking, grassroots organizing, coalition building and international relations, Joe previously served as executive director of government affairs of a technology, analytics and data science company where he led efforts on cannabis seed-to-sale tracking, business licensing and patient registries in the U.S. He also worked on analytics and real world evidence studies in states that have legalized cannabis.  

Joe also spent six years with a national trade association representing companies producing and importing beer sold in the U.S. During that time, Joe spearheaded a successful campaign to modernize the federal excise tax on beverage alcohol. As a result, Joe was named Brewbound Magazine's person of the year in 2020. He also worked on import/export issues and tariff/trade issues associated with aluminum and glass packaging as well as other beer-related inputs. Additionally, Joe spent a decade serving in the U.S. House of Representatives as Deputy Chief of staff to Congressman John Runyan of New Jersey as well as Senior Advisor and Counsel to Congressman Michael Turner of Ohio.

Joe earned his juris doctor in 2004 from Penn State University, Dickinson School of Law. During law school, he served as managing editor of the Journal of American Arbitration and led Penn State's American Trial Lawyers Association Moot Court Team. He also served for three years on the Student Bar Association. 

Joe obtained his Bachelor of Arts in diplomacy and foreign affairs from Miami University in 2001. At Miami, Joe served as vice president for member education of his fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi. Additionally, he was awarded the W.A. Driscoll Scholarship, the Earl L. Reeder Scholarship and was a Miami University Scholar Leader. He was a founding member of Miami University's Greek-led Habitat for Humanity chapter and served on the board for Miami's Dance Marathon.

A native of Centerville, Ohio, Joe currently lives in Washington, D.C., with his husband.  Joe is a former rugby player with the Washington Renegades Rugby Football Club. He currently sings with the Choral Arts Society of Washington where he has performed with Audra McDonald on the Kennedy Center Honors, Andrea Bocceli and the National Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Robert Martin Tobiassen, J.D., LLM Taxation Related Seminars and Products

Principal

Tobiassen Consulting + Solutions LLC

Robert M. Tobiassen is the President of the National Association of Beverage Importers, Inc. (NABI), Washington, DC, since October 2018. Prior to that appointment, he was the Principal at Tobiassen Consulting Plus Solutions LLC, after a 34-year Federal service career with regulatory, taxation and administrative and judicial enforcement experience with the domestic and global alcohol industry and served in the career Senior Executive Service (SES) as the inaugural Chief Counsel, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), Department of the Treasury in 2003. As TTB Chief Counsel, Mr. Tobiassen liaisoned with CBP, USTR, and the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture, as well as Capitol Hill. He served on USTR delegations to negotiations with the European Commission in Brussels and the WTO in Geneva.

Mr. Tobiassen holds a B.A. in Political Science with distinction from the University of California, Berkeley, a J.D. from the Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon where he served on law review, and a LL.M. in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC. Among other awards, Mr. Tobiassen received the 2003 Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious SES Executives and the 2012 Distinguished Service Award from the Secretary of the Treasury.