Sleeping Giant: The Dormant Commerce Clause's Impact on Future of Cannabis

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. 

Jason Horst Related Seminars and Products

Managing Partner

Horst Legal Counsel, PC

Jason Horst is the Managing Partner of Horst Legal Counsel and the President-Emeritus of the INCBA Board of Directors. Jason represents businesses, public entities, professional and nonprofit organizations, and individuals in complex civil litigation and appellate cases involving a wide variety of cannabis, real estate, contract, insurance coverage, and technology disputes. He has a proven record of success representing both plaintiffs and defendants at trial, on appeal, and in alternative dispute resolution proceedings. He prides himself in the ability to deliver creative, efficient solutions to thorny legal problems. Before opening Horst Legal Counsel, Jason worked with some of the top international and regional law firms serving clients in California. His clients receive the deep knowledge and ability of large firm counsel, combined with the affordability of a boutique law firm. He has also been an active member of the National Cannabis Industry Association, where he has served as a member of the Policy Committee and Chair of the Risk Management and Insurance Committee, as well as the California Cannabis Industry Association’s Risk Management Committee. Jason has been recognized as a Super Lawyer in business litigation since 2023 by Super Lawyers® Magazine and been named as one of MG Magazine’s 30 Powerful Cannabis Attorneys You Should Know.

Rebecca Stamey-White Related Seminars and Products

CEO

Stamey-White, APC

Rebecca Stamey-White represents the alcoholic beverage, hospitality, and cannabis industries and their investors and service providers. Rebecca helps her clients secure and maintain their required alcohol and cannabis licenses by providing licensing, production, distribution, sales, and marketing counsel, and defending clients before regulatory bodies when their licenses are at risk. She frequently works with clients at the intersection between the alcohol, cannabis and/or hemp industries and provides special regulatory counsel to other law firms. 

Before starting her own firm, she was a partner with Hinman & Carmichael LLP, a nationally recognized boutique alcohol beverage firm, for almost 10 years and an associate in the San Francisco litigation group of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Rebecca received her BA in History & International Studies and her JD from Northwestern University.

In addition to her law practice, Rebecca is an adjunct professor of law at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, teaching Cannabis Law, Business, and Policy at the San Francisco Immersion Program. She is also a frequent speaker at industry conferences, law and business schools, and continuing legal education programs on the latest legal issues in the alcoholic beverage and cannabis industries. 

Thomas (Tommy) Tobin Related Seminars and Products

Counsel

Perkins Coie LLP

Thomas Tobin’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and class action matters involving statutory, constitutional, and regulatory issues in a range of industries, including food and beverage, consumer packaged goods, and cannabis. In the food and beverage sector, Tommy has experience defending false advertising claims and consumer protection claims for well-known international corporations. He regularly writes articles on food law and policy issues and is chair of the American Bar Association’s Food, Cosmetics and Nutraceuticals Committee. Tommy recently edited the American Bar Association’s Food Law: A Practical Guide, a resource book for practitioners to assist them in meeting the unique needs of food and beverage clients across various domains of legal practice.

Tommy’s litigation background includes drafting complaints, dispositive motions, and other filings in high-stakes litigation as well as participating in depositions and case strategy. He also has experience assisting with internal investigations.

Maintaining an active pro bono practice, Tommy has represented clients in administrative appeals for public benefits, including food stamps, disability benefits, and veteran benefits. For three years, he taught a food law and policy module at the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy. With Perkins Coie Partner David Biderman, Tommy now teaches the seminar “Food Litigation: Consumer Protection, Regulation, and Class Actions” at UCLA Law.

Prior to joining Perkins Coie, Tommy served as a law clerk to the Hon. Max O. Cogburn, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. In 2012, Tommy was awarded the George Mitchell Scholarship for travel to the island of Ireland. He holds degrees from Stanford University, Harvard Law School, and the Harvard Kennedy School. While earning his J.D., he served as president of the Harvard Food Law Society, was an online editor for the Harvard Law & Policy Review, and worked as a teaching fellow in the Harvard Economics Department.