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Ethics 101 - What You Should Think About: The Ethics of Cannabis Law


After becoming a cannabis lawyer, you need to ensure you are an ethical one. Cannabis law practice requires greater attention to the rules of professional responsibility because of rapidly changing laws, enhanced potential for conflicts of interest, and that cannabis remains a Schedule I Controlled Substance in the United States. Learn from our panelists about the issues they confronted as soon as they entered cannabis practice, and what they never expected.

Hannah Stitt, Founder & Shareholder, Tectonic Law PC

Hannah Stitt is an intellectual property litigator and the founder of Tectonic Law (based in San Francisco, California). She provides services to businesses and entrepreneurs innovating in the following areas: Health & Wellness (including the cannabis industry), Internet and Information Technology (including cryptocurrency and blockchain industries), Creative Arts & Media (including publishing and digital art), and Environmental Sustainability. Ms. Stitt focuses her practice on litigation and disputes involving brands, trademarks, copyrights, privacy rights and related business claims. Her clients are both domestic and international, and of all sizes from startup to conglomerate.

 

Ms. Stitt graduated with Honors from the University of California Davis, earning degrees in both Religious Studies and Film Studies. She went on to earn her J.D. from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly Hastings), receiving a certificate of concentration in the area of intellectual property law. She has been named a Super Lawyer/Northern California Rising Star by her colleagues in the legal profession continuously since 2019 (a distinction granted to less than 2.5% of lawyers).

 

A core value of both Ms. Stitt’s is providing services to folks impacted by the drug war and “left behind” by current medical and recreational markets opening up across the country. Between October 2016 and December 2021, Ms. Stitt was a volunteer member of the Prisoner Advocacy Network (a project of the San Francisco Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild) (PAN). While with PAN, Ms. Stitt assisted California prisoners to navigate the intricacies of the civil administrative legal system in order to meet their basic needs and human rights. This work exposed her to the system-imposed inequities experienced by the US’ most vulnerable population. She brings her pro bono experiences holding the government to account into her day-to-day practice for private clients.

 

Ms. Stitt was an active member of the Ethics Committee for the International Cannabis Bar Association (INCBA) between January 2018 and December 2022. She contributed significantly to the Ethics Committee’s proposed model rules of professional conduct for attorneys serving clients in regulated cannabis markets, and pushed the committee to develop a model evidentiary rule to protect attorney work product. Her advice and counsel has shaped the market.

 

Please send her an email, or a message through tectoniclaw.com.

Paige Pembrook, Principal Attorney, Pantheon Counsel
Jonathan Gallo, Attorney, Vandeventer Black LLP

Jonathan is co-leader of the firm’s Cannabis Law Group and the Cybersecurity & Data Privacy Group. Jonathan advises business in cannabis industries as well as businesses in various technology related fields, advising clients on a range of matters related to cannabis regulations, contract negotiations, data privacy and security, data breach planning and response, cyber risk liability and compliance, software development and licensing, and other technology related matters. Jonathan assists businesses in cannabis related industries, including advising clients on state and federal laws, contract negotiations, and business and licensing issues. Before joining Vandeventer Black, Jonathan was an attorney in state government at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. Jonathan was a member of the Department’s team responsible for the development and implementation of the State of New Hampshire’s first therapeutic cannabis program which continues to this day. That three-year effort included the development of the program model, program regulations, the dispensary applications process, selection of dispensaries, and the eventual licensing of four therapeutic cannabis dispensaries that are the first of their kind in the state.

Lauren Linder, Vice President | Assistant General Counsel, Curaleaf, Inc.

Lauren Linder is Vice President and Assistant General Counsel of Curaleaf, Inc. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, she graduated from Pace Academy before receiving her bachelor’s degree from Brown University. She attended Duke University where she received her Juris Doctor before returning home to Atlanta. Lauren joined Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton in 2007 as an associate and Turner Broadcasting as counsel in 2011. While at The Weather Channel (2015-2019), she held the leadership positions of Director, Business and Legal Affairs, and then of Vice President, Associate General Counsel, where she advised the company on all aspects of the business including transactional, compliance, regulatory, and litigation matters. Lauren left The Weather Chanel in August 2019 to join Parallel. In her role as Deputy General Counsel, she has led compliance and regulatory initiatives in both our Florida and Massachusetts markets, as well as provided legal guidance at the corporate level. In her impressive young career, she has also been named to the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 Under 40 list in 2018, as well as Daily Report’s On the Rise list in 2019. Lauren was named to Savoy magazine’s 2018 Top Black Lawyers list. A former debater, Lauren is a frequent speaker and panelist on a range of issues relating to corporate law and cannabis.


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