Hidden Giants: Product Liability

Stacey Jackson Related Seminars and Products

General Counsel

Golden Bear Insurance Company

Stacey Jackson is General Counsel for Golden Bear Insurance Company, a California admitted carrier also writing surplus lines in other states. Stacey lead the drafting of Golden Bear’s cannabis package and monoline insurance products helping Golden Bear to become the first admitted carrier in the nation to offer property and casualty coverage for legal cannabis operations. Golden Bear also writes professional liability for attorneys and testing laboratories.  

Ian Stewart Related Seminars and Products

Chair of National Cannabis Law Practice

Wilson Elser LLP

Ian is the Regional Managing Partner of Wilson Elser’s Los Angeles office. He is founder and co-chair of the firm’s Cannabis and Hemp Law practice, where he leads a national multi-disciplinary team of lawyers who serve all aspects of the cannabis and hemp industries, as well as financial institutions and insurance companies that service those industries.  

Ian works with licensed cannabis operators throughout the country to comply with their obligations under the law and to develop risk management best practices. He advises Fortune 500 companies on risk management involving hemp-derived CBD and the interplay with U.S. food and drug laws. Ian assists insurance companies on cannabis-related underwriting practices and the development of new policy forms. He also works with financial institutions and professional services firms on best practices for operating in a challenging regulatory environment.  

Ian has achieved a national reputation as a distinguished cannabis attorney and has been named to the prestigious Chambers USA guide in Cannabis Law (2020-2022). He is a member of the Advisory Board of the International Cannabis Bar Association (INCBA) and participates on the Policy Council of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA). Ian also sits on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Cannabis Section and is chair emeritus of NCIA’s Risk Management and Insurance Committee. He is one of MG Magazine’s “30 Powerful Cannabis Attorneys You Should Know” and is listed within Cannabis Reports’ “10 Powerful Marijuana Lawyers in California.” Ian has also been named by National Law Review as “Go-To Thought Leader” in 2018 and 2021 for his publications on cannabis law and policy. 

By way of background, Ian has defended complex litigation in state and federal courts for more than 25 years with a focus on practice areas relevant to the cannabis industry, including product liability, complex general casualty, transportation, data privacy and intellectual property litigation. Ian received his B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, and his JD from Saint 

Louis University School of Law. He has been with Wilson Elser for the past 22 years.

Jasmine Wetherell Related Seminars and Products

Counsel

Perkins Coie LLP

Jasmine Wetherell focuses her practice on complex civil litigation, with an emphasis on food litigation, environmental litigation and business torts. She has also provided guidance to retailers, consumer product manufacturers and landowners regarding compliance with California’s Proposition 65 (the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act). Jasmine has substantial experience in all phases of litigation, including pre-suit investigation and counseling, discovery, percipient witness and “person-most-qualified” depositions and motion practice in both state and federal court. 

During law school, Jasmine served as a judicial extern for the Hon. Harry Pregerson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She also served as editor-in-chief of the Women’s Law Journal and chief articles editor of the Dukeminier Awards Journal.

Bryna Dahlin Related Seminars and Products

Chair, Cannabis Industry Group

Benesch

Bryna Dahlin is a partner and chair of the Cannabis Industry Group at Benesch, where she works on the cutting edge of an emerging industry known for its regulatory complexity and challenging legal and business landscape. For nearly a decade, she has advised companies in all sectors of the cannabis space including growers, manufacturers, distributors, dispensaries, investors and ancillary businesses. She also advises non-cannabis companies that are impacted by cannabis laws. Her clients are nationwide and range from new entrants in the space to publicly-traded companies operating across dozens of states.

Bryna enjoys helping clients achieve their business objectives and prides herself on gaining a keen understanding of their operations. She offers real-world guidance that is clear, practical, and always focused on achieving client objectives. She understands the challenges in the cannabis industry and loves nothing more than seeing her clients grow and meet their business goals.

Bryna advises clients across the country on issues of regulatory compliance, risk avoidance, company formation and structuring, licensing, corporate and transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, advertising and product packaging, brand strategy and intellectual property protection. She also performs legal due diligence for investors in the cannabis space, and guides hemp, health and beauty brand clients in navigating Cannabidiol (CBD) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) laws.

Bryna is also a skilled trial lawyer who uses her skills to help clients avoid and mitigate risk, and she does not hesitate to litigate when the circumstances call for it. Beyond cannabis, she has represented prominent food, pharmaceutical, entertainment, advertising, technology and consumer product companies in an array of high-profile cases.

Bryna’s career trajectory reflects her commitment to pursuing her professional aspirations regardless of the obstacles. When the cannabis industry was in its infancy, she left her position with a global law firm and co-founded the first cannabis law firm in Illinois before later bringing this practice to Benesch. Bryna serves as pro bono counsel to the Chicago chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). She is a founding member of the Illinois Cannabis Bar Association, and member of the International Cannabis Bar, National Cannabis Industry Associations, and Illinois Women in Cannabis.

Bryna has lectured across the country on the ever-evolving landscape in cannabis law and served as an adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, where she taught Illinois’ first law course on cannabis. She is nationally ranked by Chambers & Associates for cannabis law, is a Global Top 200 cannabis lawyer, and her cannabis practice group is recognized by the prestigious Legal 500. Past honors have included Crain’s Notable Women in Law, Super Lawyers, and the National Law Journal’s 40 under 40 in Chicago.