Cannabis

Established in 2014, Foley’s Cannabis Industry Team is one of the most experienced legal teams focused on the cannabis industry, bringing together significant experience from multiple practice disciplines to comprehensively advise clients involved in the space as well as clients within supporting and peripheral industries. Our Cannabis Industry Team includes a deep bench of more than 60 attorneys nationwide and in Mexico City.

We appreciate the opportunities presented by the emerging cannabis industry and are committed to helping clients navigate the complexities of federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Our dedicated legal team develops creative and agile business solutions that allow businesses, lenders, investors, cultivators, processors, caregivers, transporters, landlords, and others to address current contradictions between agencies and jurisdictions, without limiting future options when those contradictions are resolved. Foley has played a key role in some of the highest profile transactions in the industry to date.

Foley’s Cannabis Industry Team advises clients on best practices regarding corporate formation and finance, joint ventures, tax strategies, industry-focused compliance programs, patent and intellectual property protections, real estate leasing, multistate licensing, SEC compliance, and in connection with government investigations involving the Department of Justice, the SEC, and other enforcement authorities.

Our attorneys serve as insurance counsel for both cannabis businesses seeking coverage and insurers weighing risk management concerns, and as employment counsel for non-cannabis companies managing drug-testing policies that address their staff’s off-duty usage. Our team is particularly mindful of the health care industry’s interest in marijuana, and regularly advises hospitals and long-term care facilities on legal compliance during patient care.

Value We Deliver

Multidisciplinary team harnessing decades of experience to produce predictive solutions in the absence of precedent
Collaborative approach to counsel, designed to address challenges with our clients’ business goals in mind
Experienced representation in handling a variety of interactions with the FDA, DEA, DOJ, EPA, and other federal, state, local, and tribal governing bodies
Skilled representation in property leasing negotiations for dispensaries
Intellectual property counsel, including patent protection, for biomedical and other products
Practical risk management and mitigation counsel
Legal and IP due diligence, including FTO reviews
Zealous advocacy in litigation and government investigations
Advise employers on duties toward employees, job applicant drug testing, and ADA compliance in connection with medical and recreational cannabis use.
Advise health care providers on their roles as caregivers to patients using medical or recreational cannabis, including policies and procedures and liability/risk issues