Application, Process, and Best Practices

SarahLee Gossett Parrish Related seminars and products

President/CEO

Sarah Lee Gossett Parrish PLLC

David Ruskin Related seminars and products

Attorney

HMB Legal Counsel

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 enjoys guiding clients through the life-cycle of cannabis operations, starting with the regulatory maze for state licensing of cannabis businesses followed by the myriad of general and regulatory counsel needs during the course of the company’s life, from start-up issues through sale events and the multitude of legal challenges in between. David has been successful in securing numerous licenses and cross-border agreements in various states for clients, with the help of his HMB Legal cannabis team.

Known as an excellent listener, David’s approach is efficient and focused on his client’s business goals. Ultimately, David’s biggest satisfaction comes from moving the cannabis industry forward, both through legal work and also making introductions within his wide network of cannabis business friends and colleagues. To that end, David co-founded CannaMatch in 2021, for the purpose of matching newly licensed growers, processors and retailers with the numerous industry service providers in an organized, efficient and confidential fashion. David’s other hours are spent active with the International Cannabis Bar Association, the Illinois Cannabis Bar Association and the Illinois Craft Cannabis Association…when not with his family, their golden-doodle Boyd, or enjoying live music.   

Scheril Murray Powell Related seminars and products

Senior Partner

Scheril Murray Powell PA

Scheril Murray Powell, Esq. is an Agricultural and Cannabis Attorney at Doumar, Allsworth, Laystrom, Voigt, Adair, and Dishowitz LLP.   The Daily Business Review has named her one of the Top 12 Cannabis Attorney’s in Florida.  She is the Executive Director of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists of Florida and former Director of Federal Affairs for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.  Scheril also serves as the Director of Business Development of Cannabiziac LLC, South Florida’s first incubator, accelerator and co-working community catering solely to cannabis-related businesses.  Scheril is on the Hemp Pilot Program Advisory Board for the University of Florida.  She is on the board for the Friends of Hemp and was a Founding Board Member for the the U.S. Hemp Builders Association (not to be confused with the U.S. Hemp Building Association Foundation).  She is also President of consulting firm Green Sustainable Strong, LLC.  In her spare time she volunteers with the Winrock Foundation delivering Marketing training to Farmers in Ghana, Africa.  In 2018, she was a recipient of the Crohns Foundation Blood, Sweat, and Tears Award, and the Cannabis Business Award's Industry MVP Award.  She former In House Counsel for Sunflora/ Your CBD Store and former In House Counsel for Green Roads World.  She is a graduate of Florida International University College of Law.  As a Cannapreneur, Scheril is the President of Canna Headhunters, a staffing agency in the Cannabis Industry that connects Cannabis talent to opportunities.  She has been selected to present at a number of Cannabis Conferences including the South East Cannabis Conference The Hemp and CBD Expo in the United Kingdom, The American Bar Association Cannabis Symposium: “From Regs to Riches”,  the Women Grow Leadership Sumit,  the U.S. Cannabis Conference, Canex Jamaica Conference, South East Cannabis Conference,  Cannaday, The University of the West Indies Caribbean Neuroscience Conference,  Women Grow Leadership Summit, The Kentucky Hemp Convention, The Kentucky State Hemp Symposium, the University of Technology Jamaican Medical Cannabis Integrated Symposium, The Women of Cannabis Conference, the Cannabis Science Conference, Detroit’s Canna Con, Florida Medical Marijuana Conference, and Canna-Ed Conference hosted by the Florida Cannabis Coalition. She has been asked to speak at Jamaica’s Pharmacological Board Mandatory Meetings and Jamaica Bureau of Standards meetings based on her international reputation as a Cannabis Expert.  In May of 2019, she planned and hosted the 1^st Annual Cannurban-Unifest Agricultural Symposium in collaboration with the City of Lauderdale Lakes and the FAMU-Cannurbian Hemp Town Hall with Florida A&M University.  Scheril was the regular Cannabis Law expert on Cannabis Law Radio every Saturday morning on Cannabis Life Radio and is launching a Cannabis Talk Show called “Terps in the City” in Summer of 2019. She presented at the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists Joint Conference in August 2016 on the topic of: “Exposing the Truth: Getting Access to Audio and Video Evidence in Police Involved Shootings”. Scheril is the Treasurer of the FIU College of Law Alumni Board. While at FIU Law, she was the Charter President of the Palm Beach ABA Student Organization and a member and coach of the Board of Advocates Negotiation Team. In 2013, Scheril won the FIU Law Intramurals Negotiation Competition, also she and her partner won the ABA Southern Region Negotiation Competition. In 2014, she and her partner came in 2nd place in the Nelson Mandela International Negotiation Competition and she was awarded the distinction of Best Overall Negotiator for her efforts. Scheril served on the Black Law Student Association’s National Board for two years and is passionate about eradicating sex trafficking and other social justice issues such as police brutality. She has interned at the State Attorney’s office in the 15th Judicial Circuit of Palm Beach County and for two judges of the 17th Judicial Circuit of Broward County. In the summer of 2014, she served as an Anti-Defamation League Summer Associate. She believes that practicing the law and advocacy for the disadvantaged go hand in hand. She is an activist and has dedicated her time and resources to promoting awareness, access to educational resources, and support for survivors of domestic violence and trafficking. She has a Facebook page called “Police Chronicles” which documents national police interactions with the community. She mentors Pre-Law and Law School students of diverse backgrounds and has been a speaker at the Black and Hispanic Prelaw Conference, the Diversity Prelaw Conference, and the HBCU Prelaw Summit and Expo. Law is a second career for Scheril. She spent over a decade in the wireless industry working for T-Mobile, USA; T-Mobile, UK; RIM BlackBerry; and MetroPCS as a Customer Retention Strategist and Marketing Interface Manager rolling out training, technical change, cultural change, and process improvement projects Nationwide. Scheril received her undergraduate Business Management degree from Florida Atlantic University with a minor in Marketing where she pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and served as the Student Government Senate Speaker for seven campuses. Scheril credits her hard working and strict Jamaican parents James and Judith Hall for her work ethic, tenacity, persistence, and commitment to excellence. She was taught at a young age that we all have a responsibility to each other and must be the example that tears down stereotypes while opening the door for others to follow in your footsteps. She stays motivated by remembering that her son Judah is watching how she lives her values and “walks the talk” in her daily activities. Scheril believes that every test is for a testimony that will glorify God. If He can do all that he has done for me…imagine his plans for you.

Dina Rollman, Government & Regulatory Affairs Related seminars and products

SVP

GTI

DINA ROLLMAN is GTI’s SVP of Government & Regulatory Affairs. In this role, she represents GTI in governmental and regulatory affairs matters at the state, local, and federal level and provides counsel on regulatory matters. Dina began her involvement with GTI and the cannabis industry in 2014 by helping GTI apply for its Illinois licenses, and thereafter served as first external and then in-house regulatory compliance and litigation counsel before transitioning to a government relations role in 2019.

Dina is an experienced attorney who, prior to joining GTI and specializing in cannabis law, was a commercial litigation partner, representing plaintiffs and defendants in business disputes throughout the country.

Dina is also the founder and President of Illinois Women in Cannabis, a not for profit group that promotes women’s role in Illinois’ medical cannabis industry. She recently taught Illinois’ first Cannabis Law & Policy course as an adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law. Dina has lectured widely on cannabis topics, addressing national trade conferences, national legal conferences and presenting at legal seminars. Dina created GTI’s social equity License Education Application Program (LEAP), which helps to educate applicants about the adult use cannabis business application process in Illinois and prepare them to apply for the available categories of licenses.

The Chicago Sun-Times named Dina to its list of the top 10 most influential people in the Illinois cannabis industry in 2018 and she was included in the Chicago Business Journal’s Chicago Women of Influence list in 2019.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Oberlin College and a law degree from Northwestern University School of Law.