Then & Now: A Decade of Lessons and Future Directions for In-House Counsel in Cannabis

Chang Yi Related Seminars and Products

CEO & Chief Legal Officer

Smoakland New York

Chief Legal Officer of Smoakland Group and CEO of Smokeland New York. Chang served on the cannabis regulatory commission in Oakland, California as a commisioner between 2016 and 2019 and chaired the cannabis regulatory commission for 2 years. He helped revise the first ever, cannabis equity program developed in Oakland, California.

Prior to Cannabis, Chang worked as commercial counsel for California Closets, with retail operations across four countries and 38 states, and manufacturing operations in Arizona and Michigan.

Prior to California Closets, Chang served as commercial counsel for the Institute for OneWorld Health (iOWH), now part of PATH Global as its drug development wing. At iOWH, he supported clinical trials in India, Bangladesh and Nepal and coordinated compliance with the WHO and the India Ministry of Health. Furthermore, Chang crafted unique "open source" agreements for reverse patent licensing with many multi-national pharmaceutical companies like Abbott Laboratories, Sanofi Aventis, Genentech, and others.

Erin Alexander Related Seminars and Products

Director of Legal & Compliance

Cloud 9 Cannabis and Lucky Lincoln Gaming

Erin Alexander is a seasoned attorney with deep expertise in the regulated cannabis and gaming industries. Her diverse background spans large law firm litigation, state-level regulatory enforcement, and in-house leadership at high-growth cannabis companies. Known for her pragmatic, solutions-oriented approach, Erin helps businesses navigate complex compliance landscapes with confidence.
As one of the first 100 employees at one of the country’s largest multi-state cannabis operators, Erin helped build the legal and regulatory functions from the ground up. She led licensing efforts for more than 20 cultivation and manufacturing facilities and over 50 retail dispensaries across multiple states—drawing on her prior experience as a casino gaming regulator to manage risk, scale operations, and support expansion.

In her current role as Director of Legal & Compliance, Erin serves as de facto General Counsel for cannabis and gaming businesses, overseeing licensing, commercial contracts, litigation, IP, and more. She is an active member of the International Cannabis Bar Association and a former board member of Illinois Women in Cannabis. Erin earned her J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and is licensed in Illinois.

Laura Schniedwind Related Seminars and Products

Director and Lead Counsel, Product

PAX

Laura Schniedwind is Director and Lead Counsel, Product at PAX Labs, Inc., a leading global cannabis brand on a mission to enhance people’s lives through exceptional cannabis experiences. With experience in both start-up and global corporate environments, she provides strategic and legal partnership across the company, including product, sales, operations, business development, marketing, R&D, government affairs, and finance teams.

Her work enables the company to commercialize cannabis consumables and cannabis vaporization hardware within highly regulated frameworks on a global scale. She leads a high-performing compliance team that identifies trends and helps develop strategies and policy proposals to further the interests of PAX and our communities.

Laura has extensive experience working with companies of all sizes experiencing major growth in regulated industries. She has held a variety of legal positions serving the cannabis industry, including outside general counsel, sole practitioner, and of counsel. Prior to working for the cannabis industry, Laura was in-house counsel to a privately-held global company engaged in the development, manufacture, and sale of semiconductor analysis equipment, where she gained experience establishing a company-wide export compliance program, oversaw the implementation and alignment of company policies across subsidiaries, and worked with various stakeholders to draft agreements and help drive business forward. Following the company's acquisition by a public company, she decided to leverage her experience working with companies experiencing transition in regulated industries, and established a solo practice focused exclusively on the cannabis industry. After nearly two years running a successful solo practice, she joined a boutique firm Brand & Branch LLP, focused on advising cannabis and hemp businesses on intellectual property licensing, regulatory compliance, and commercial transactions, a role in which she served as outside counsel to PAX.

Based in Oakland, California, Laura is a Bay Area native and a graduate of the University of California, San Diego and the University of San Francisco School of Law. 

Shannon Hartwell, JD Related Seminars and Products

General Counsel

Grön Holdings, Inc.

Shannon Hartwell is a seasoned corporate attorney currently serving as general counsel at Grön, a cannabis edibles company operating in nine states and Canada.

Before joining Grön, Shannon practiced corporate law at an Am Law 100 firm for six years. and served for twelve years as Chief Compliance Officer for a mutual fund complex and two investment advisors with assets under management exceeding $2 billion dollars. In 2018, Shannon returned to private practice at Emerge Law Group, a boutique firm formed to serve cannabis clients. During five years at Emerge, Grön quickly became Shannon’s largest client and in 2023, she became Grön’s general counsel.

Shannon holds a J.D. from Lewis and Clark Law School and is admitted to practice in Oregon.

Shannon volunteers as a coach and judge for the University of Oregon’s M&A Boot Camp competition each summer and as a college essay tutor through Literary Arts of Portland.

Shannon enjoys playing Mahjong; completing multiple crossword puzzles daily; traveling to see artwork; and hanging out with her two dogs, Betty and Agnes.

Gabe Parton Lee Related Seminars and Products

General Counsel

Wyld

Gabe started with Wyld in June, 2018 as its 40th employee, with the role of ensuring compliance within all operations and acquisition of new licenses. Soon after, Wyld expanded into Nevada, California, Colorado, and a nationally-distributed hemp-derived CBD brand (Wyld CBD) while expanding its real fruit-infused product offerings. 

Now, Wyld is the best selling cannabis-infused gummies brand in the US, with over 800 employees, spanning seven states and Canada, with intentions for five more markets by the end of 2022. Wyld CBD is a best-selling hemp gummies and beverage brand and is widely distributed throughout major markets in the US. 

In his capacity as General Counsel, Gabe now focuses on managing the evolving structure of the entity, its intellectual property, outside counsel litigation, its Legal and Compliance Departments, while devoting an unhealthy amount of time on regulatory affairs developing cannabis and hemp regulations on a state-by-state basis.