Hot Markets: The Canna-License Dating Game (Adult Use Edition)

Ryan Agnew Related Seminars and Products

Prinicpal

The Law Office of Ryan R. Agnew, PS

David Ruskin Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP

David is a partner with the Chicago-based law firm, HMB Legal Counsel.  Following 25 years of litigating business and tax disputes, in 2016 David turned his full energy to focus on providing legal counsel to the cannabis industry, representing entrepreneurs, investors and business owners, both plant touching and ancillary trades.

David Ruskin leads the firm's Cannabis practice. He advises both public and privately companies on a wide range of corporate issues including mergers, acquisitions, and financing and tax transactions. David counsels entrepreneurs, investors, and business owners to help achieve their goals in the Cannabis industry. He represents companies facing business and tax litigation and provides outside general counsel services.

Having worked with cannabis companies for nearly a decade, David’s cannabis practice touches every part of the industry. He represents national and expanding brands, licensed retailers, cultivators and processors, and delivery services. David also advises non-plant touching and start-up companies as they look to grow in the evolving industry, and he helps both investors and companies seeking capital create the appropriate agreement to accomplish their goals.

David helps clients navigate unsettled and differing statutes, regulations, and industry-specific legal developments. He enjoys guiding clients through the state licensing process and counseling on issues that arise from early-stage application steps through the company’s lifespan. David has assisted license holders from over 15 legalized states in expanding their operations into new jurisdictions, empowering them to enter new markets with compliance and confidence.

With extensive litigation experience, David represents clients in an array of issues litigated in the cannabis industry and beyond. He often represents clients in partnership, ownership, and contract disputes and defends clients involved in whistleblower (qui tam), False Claims Act claims, and multistate tax issues. David represents clients before state courts, administrative tax tribunals, appellate, and federal courts.

Prior to joining the firm, David was a partner in the Litigation Group and led the Cannabis practice at HMB Legal Counsel, a well-established, corporate-focused law firm based in Chicago, Illinois.

David was recognized as a “Leading Lawyer” in 2024 for Cannabis Law and Closely and Privately Held Business Law by Leading Lawyers magazine.

*Counsel for the Illinois Craft Cannabis Association in lawsuit against the State of Illinois, Governor Pritzker and Illinois Department of Agriculture for a writ of mandamus compelling the scoring and issuance of craft grower and infuser licenses that were indefinitely suspended by the Governor’s emergency proclamations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

*Counsel for an Illinois licensed medical cannabis dispensary, for its sale/transfer of its business and related Illinois dispensary licenses, two medical and one adult-use, to a multi-state operator.

*Counsel for numerous applicants for Illinois cannabis licenses, including dispensing organizations, craft growers, infusers, and transporters.

*General counsel for a specialty chocolate maker that produces cannabis infused chocolate edibles. Provided licensing agreements in Washington and California to produce and sell branded products in conjunction with licensed partners in other jurisdictions.

Lara DeCaro Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Leland, Parachini, Steinberg, Matzger and Melnick

I am a business attorney and mediator admitted to practice in three states. I am also a co-founder, former Executive Officer and Board Member, and the current President of the Advisory Board of the International Cannabis Bar Association and a co-founder and the current Chair of the BASF Cannabis Law Section, founder of the BASF (LRIS) pro bono panel for social equity applicants, frequent speaker, podcast guest, and teacher at City College San Francisco. In 2022 I provided testimony on cannabis policy reform, upon invitation, to elected members of the Irish Parliament and their invitees at Leinster House in Dublin, Ireland. I also have significant experience in the areas of cannabis, intellectual property, commercial transactions/M&A, real estate, hospitality, and entertainment law, and have consistenly been named to Chambers and Partners top cannabis attorneys for several years.  

Eric D Postow Related Seminars and Products

Managing Partner

Holon Law Partners

As Managing Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Holon Law Partners, Eric Postow spearheads the firm’s growth by cultivating strategic relationships and driving revenue. His entrepreneurial background includes the successful founding and national expansion of the Cannabis Practice Group at a previous law firm.

Eric specializes in Outside General Counsel services for regulated sectors such as industrial hemp, cannabis, and psychedelics. His comprehensive expertise includes strategic negotiation, contract drafting, brand development, employment law, and complex litigation practice. 

With a diverse client portfolio ranging from multi-state operators to local family-owned businesses, Eric’s strategic insight and tailored legal support are instrumental in enabling them to thrive in today’s competitive landscape. 

A staunch advocate for the cannabis industry, Eric’s courtroom management and leadership in Rohrabacher-Farr litigation defense for medicinal cannabis stakeholders have solidified his reputation as a preeminent expert.

Licensed in Virginia, Eric is a member of the Virginia State Bar and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and the United States Court of Federal Claims in Washington, DC. He also holds pro-hac vice membership in the United States District Court for the District of Maine.

Eric is an engaged member of esteemed organizations such as the NAACP, the International Cannabis Bar Association, NORML, and is a founding member of the Psychedelic Bar Association where he serves on the Religious Use Committee. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Brittany and children Max, Zevi, and Sela.

Andrea Steel Related Seminars and Products

Partner

The Banks Law Firm, P.A.

Andrea is a member in the firm’s Commercial Finance Practice Group as well as a member of the Hemp Industry Team, focusing her practice on both affordable housing and cannabis business law. In the affordable housing area, Andrea represents both for-profit and non-profit developers across the country, including public and private entities, as well as public housing authorities and tax increment reinvestment zones. Her work is concentrated on the legal representation of developers of affordable housing utilizing both 9% and 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax exempt bond financing, CDBG and HOME Program funding and other federal, state and local subsidy and economic development programs, as well as the stimulus grants created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 including the Tax Credit Assistance Program, Tax Credit Exchange Program (Section 1602 Program) and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

Andrea has represented developers in complex transactions which have combined federal and state Historic Tax Credits with LIHTCs and tax-exempt bonds, and transactions which have involved multiple layers of funding including EB-5 and tax increment financing. Her practice also includes closing construction, bridge and/or permanent loans, conventional as well as Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae loans, FHA-insured loans, and state and local financing. Incorporating various economic development incentives is another area in which her creativity and experience allows her to excel.

Andrea’s work with public housing authorities (PHAs) includes closing transactions that include HUD funds and/or HUD-insured mortgages, including Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) and mixed-finance transactions, those involving Section 8 financing, 221(d)(4) & 223(f) FHA mortgages, Federal Home Loan Bank AHP loans and CDBG Disaster Recovery funds. She has worked with PHAs throughout Texas in addition to Louisiana, Arkansas, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Andrea is also experienced with assisting developers navigate through various state agency processes, including assistance with funding applications, appeals, and compliance issues. Her work also encompasses obtaining ad valorem tax exemptions for qualified projects, and she also assists clients with real estate acquisitions and dispositions.

In addition to real estate, Andrea has deep rooted knowledge and experience with cannabis law. Andrea’s cannabis business clients come from across the supply chain spectrum from cultivators to retailers, as well as distributors, testing labs and more. She advises on regulatory compliance, hemp/medical marijuana licensing, cannabis-related business issues, product labeling/marketing, policy-making participation and real estate issues.

Andrea frequently advises clients on issues unique to the industry, such as delta-8 and other novel cannabinoids, conducting state-by-state research and providing guidance and analysis on proposed laws to policymakers and others. She serves as co-chair of the Legislative Advisement Committee of the International Cannabis Bar Association and has been appointed as Vice Chair of the American Bar Association’s Cannabis Law and Policy Committee for the 2021-22 year. She is also a sought-after speaker at industry events, providing insight into recently approved and proposed laws, rules and regulations and other cannabis business matters. At her prior firm, she successfully launched, led and grew their cannabis business practice group.

With both affordable housing and cannabis being industries that necessitate guidance across a wide range of practice areas, Andrea enjoys collaborating with other team members at Frost Brown Todd to provide clients a full suite of legal services on any issue impacting their businesses, including trademarks, patents, e-commerce, tax matters, debt and equity financing opportunities, corporate structuring and more.

Eliyahu Scheiman, J.D. Related Seminars and Products

General Counsel

Inperium, Inc.

Eli has been focusing on complex commercial litigation, insurance coverage, employment counseling, and appellate work since 2007.  After becoming a Principal of Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C. in 2017, Eli helped launch the firm’s cannabis practice, and the related cannabis practice of the firm’s compliance subsidiary, PCS, with a national focus on cannabis licensing and compliance and business and corporate counseling for cannabis and hemp/CBD companies. He also chaired the International Cannabis Bar Association’s Legislative Advisement Committee for several years.   

Fatima Afia Related Seminars and Products

Associate

Rudick Law Group, PLLC

Fatima Afia is a cannabis attorney and civil litigator at Rudick Law Group, PLLC, with a background in commercial and business litigation, land use and landmarks law matters, and disability insurance law. As a litigator, Fatima was an instrumental member of the litigation team behind Washington v. Barr, a pro-bono lawsuit brought against the federal government that sought to declare the federal law criminalizing cannabis unconstitutional. As part of her work in Washington v. Barr, Fatima led the effort in securing overwhelming amicus support before the U.S. Supreme Court from seven members of Congress, 19 disparate and highly regarded organizations, and two eminent cannabis researchers and scientists. In connection with her disability insurance work, she has helped secure and maintain disability benefits for clients from some of the largest disability insurance companies in the United States, playing a vital role in the firm's successful administrative appeal against Unum Insurance Company which resulted in an award of approximately $1 million in retroactive benefits for the client. 

As a cannabis attorney, Fatima assists cannabis clients navigate the legal cannabis and hemp industry in the areas of corporate law and regulatory compliance, business transactions, litigation, and state licensing applications in various jurisdictions including New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Fatima is also a social equity advocate, providing instrumental testimony to the Cannabis Control Commission in Massachusetts in 2019 which resulted in an expedited license application-review process for women-and-minority-owned businesses that were unfairly excluded from the regulatory definition of a social equity applicant. Fatima is also an article contributor for Marijuana Venture, has regularly organized and chaired CLE panels and events for the International Cannabis Bar Association (“INCBA”), and is the Co-Chair of INCBA’s CLE Committee. She was the Moot Court Winner at the Medical Cannabis Conference held at Columbia University in 2019, and in 2021 was named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine.

Fatima attended Brooklyn Law School where she graduated in the top 20% percent of her graduating class. 

Steve Schain Related Seminars and Products

Senior Counsel

Smart Counsel

Winner of National Law Journal’s “2019 Finance, Banking, & Capital Markets Trailblazer” award, Steve Schain runs 100% woman owned, national cannabis law firm Smart-Counsel, LLC's PA and NJ practices and Chair its Financial Services Group. Admitted to practice in PA and New Jersey, Steve represents entities, governments and individuals in litigation, regulation and compliance, license applications, entity formation, and drafting legislation. Steve is also an Adjunct Faculty Member of, and teaches “Cannabis Law” at, Stockton University, one of only 5 universities offering a minor in Cannabis Studies. A nationally recognized Cannabis, banking law and consumer finance litigation expert, Steve serves as a court appointed judge pro tempore and arbitrator, is a The Legal Intelligencer, New Jersey Law Journal, and Cannabis Business Executive columnist, and frequent presenter for the National Cannabis Industry Association, International Cannabis Bar Association, Pennsylvania Credit Union Association, Bank Secrecy Act Compliance Group, Marijuana Business Daily, Pennsylvania Bar Institute and National Bar Institute.

Corey Barnette Related Seminars and Products

Founder | CEO

District Growers

In 2008, a friend and colleague invited me to serve on the board of – and eventually acquire – the San Diego Medical Collective (SDMC), a dispensary in San Diego, California. The purchase of SDMC was my entry to the formal medical cannabis industry. While operating in San Diego, my team and I built two of the ten largest dispensaries out of more than 238 dispensaries in the San Diego area. We served a patient base greater than 16,000 patients strong and produced approximately 30% of the medicine provided within our own patient gardens. After federal authorities began threatening landlords in the San Diego area, I sold the operations in San Diego to my employees after converting our platform to a delivery service.

Upon winning a license in Washington, D.C., where I maintained residence since 1999, I founded District Growers to offer medical marijuana program patients with safe, high-quality, medicinal-grade cannabis and cannabis-infused products. I also acquired the Metropolitan Wellness Center, a licensed dispensary in Washington, D.C., to provide a high-quality, dignified purchasing experience to patients in a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing environment. Leveraging our prior experience, knowledge of local preferences, and superior operating tactics, we have become the largest dispensary operator in Washington, D.C., with approximately a third of patients belonging to our dispensary exclusively.

Katherine Bierwas Related Seminars and Products

Cannabis Attorney

Law Offices of Katherine J Bierwas

Experienced Attorney, with a demonstrated history of excellence in the practice of law, the leadership of teams, and the financial success of organizations. Strong legal professional skilled in cannabis regulations and compliance, legislative policy for children and families, litigation, negotiation, mediation, multi-disciplinary cooperation, and child welfare. 

Before pursuing a law degree, garnered significant contract and business experience through entrepreneurial and professional positions, including Management Consultant, Director of Operations, Non-Profit Director, and Human Resources/Accounting Administrator.