Cannabis Risk Management - How to Protect and Defend Clients in the Face of Increasing Cannabis Industry Litigation

David Ruskin Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP

David is a partner with the Chicago-based law firm, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP.  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 Ruskin leads the firm's Cannabis practice. He advises both public and privately companies on a wide range of corporate issues including mergers, acquisitions, and financing and tax transactions. David counsels entrepreneurs, investors, and business owners to help achieve their goals in the Cannabis industry. He represents companies facing business and tax litigation and provides outside general counsel services.

Having worked with cannabis companies for nearly a decade, David’s cannabis practice touches every part of the industry. He represents national and expanding brands, licensed retailers, cultivators and processors, and delivery services. David also advises non-plant touching and start-up companies as they look to grow in the evolving industry, and he helps both investors and companies seeking capital create the appropriate agreement to accomplish their goals.

David helps clients navigate unsettled and differing statutes, regulations, and industry-specific legal developments. He enjoys guiding clients through the state licensing process and counseling on issues that arise from early-stage application steps through the company’s lifespan. David has assisted license holders from over 15 legalized states in expanding their operations into new jurisdictions, empowering them to enter new markets with compliance and confidence.

With extensive litigation experience, David represents clients in an array of issues litigated in the cannabis industry and beyond. He often represents clients in partnership, ownership, and contract disputes and defends clients involved in whistleblower (qui tam), False Claims Act claims, and multistate tax issues. David represents clients before state courts, administrative tax tribunals, appellate, and federal courts.

Prior to joining the firm, David was a partner in the Litigation Group and led the Cannabis practice at HMB Legal Counsel, a well-established, corporate-focused law firm based in Chicago, Illinois.

David was recognized as a “Leading Lawyer” in 2024 for Cannabis Law and Closely and Privately Held Business Law by Leading Lawyers magazine.

Michael F. Hennessey Related Seminars and Products

Senior Vice President

NFP, an Aon company

Michael F. Hennessey is Senior Vice President at NFP, an Aon company.

Previously, Mr. Hennessey served as Vice President & National Cannabis Practice Leader at IMA Financial Group, Inc. Based in California, Mr. Hennessey lead business development and client service efforts across the United States.

Prior to that, Mr. Hennessey was Assistant Vice President of Client Services for The ABD Team serving the Cannabis space in addition to technology, real estate, and life sciences sectors.

Chirali Patel, Esq. Related Seminars and Products

Managing Partner

Blaze Law Firm LLC

Chirali Patel stands at the intersection of law and advocacy with a profound motivation to reshape the cannabis industry. Early in her career, she devoted herself to public service, working for the County of Passaic, the City of Hoboken, and the County of Bergen, addressing multifaceted issues surrounding criminal and civil cases, and the intricacies of local government and public contracts. Her prior litigation experience involves being front and center in a myriad of complex commercial litigation against Fortune 500 companies, complex class actions, and multi-district litigation on the plaintiff’s side against pharmaceutical and automobile companies, among others. Some of the more notable cases include being part of the counsel team for one of the largest lawsuits in the history of the U.S. such as In re National Prescription Opiate case. Chirali was also appointed in a leadership position in In re Elmiron as a member of one of the most arguably diverse plaintiff’s steering committees. In re: Takata Airbag Products Liability Litigation and In re: Mercedes-Benz Emissions Litigation are other examples of prolific cases Chirali had the opportunity to work on. 

With a rich legal background,  Chirali began exploring the cannabis industry through self-education and organic networking in already legal states across the country as early as 2016. As her interest peaked, she began to publish articles on cannabis and speak on CLEs for attorneys and community members. She developed the cannabis practice area in law firms she worked at as an associate attorney to create more windows of opportunity and make her initial breakthrough in the industry. Recognized for her monumental impact, Chirali was lauded in the InsiderNJ 2021 “Insider 100: Cannabis Power List” as an influential voice in cannabis. Soon after, her name was featured on the prestigious “22 to Watch in ‘22” list by NJ Cannabis Insider. Earlier in 2023, Chirali was awarded the esteemed “Community Game Changer” award by NJ.com for her outstanding community engagement. 

As the current Managing Partner of Blaze Law Firm LLC, Chirali is continuing to expand on her illustrious career by advocating for social equity. Her dedication shines through her pro bono work and working with legacy market clients. Blaze Law Firm is proud to represent individuals on a pro bono status from business inception to license award. Chirali is the driving force behind Blaze Responsibly™, an organization she founded that educates and empowers the community about safe and responsible cannabis culture by hosting free expungement clinics and resource fairs throughout the State.  As an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University Law School, she molds the future of the cannabis world educating leaders through the Cannabis Law and Business Certificate program she was part of developing. Chirali Patel stands as an industry leader, blending legal expertise, advocacy, and business experience to reshape the New Jersey cannabis landscape and beyond.

Eric P. Berlin Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Dentons

Eric Berlin leads the US and global Cannabis teams at Dentons, the world’s largest law firm. Widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading authorities on cannabis and hemp law, Eric dedicates 100 percent of his work to clients involved in, or impacted by, the legal cannabis or hemp industries. He has worked on some of the industry’s biggest deals and counsels several of the top companies in the cannabis ecosystem. Eric’s own involvement in this area goes back more than a decade, when he worked pro bono with legislators and other interested parties to help draft and pass legislation creating medical cannabis programs in Illinois and Ohio.

Eric has represented large, publicly traded companies that sell products or services to the cannabis industry, companies involved in financing the industry, vaporizer manufacturers, cultivators and processors, and dispensary operators.

Additionally, Eric previously represented non-cannabis industry clients in high-profile health care and antitrust litigations. Some of his successes include a trial in a $2.3 billion Sherman Act and Robinson-Patman Act case; a False Claims Act case against major pharmacies; a bundling antitrust case against a large medical distributor; an international arbitration between agricultural companies; and appeals in the US Courts of Appeals for the Sixth, Seventh, Ninth and Tenth Circuits.

His groundbreaking efforts for businesses and industry organizations have been well recognized. Eric is ranked Band 1 for Cannabis Law by Chambers USA, earned “MVP of the Year in Cannabis Law” by Law360 in 2020, 2022 and 2023, and was named a “Leading Lawyer in Cannabis” by The Legal 500 US, 2021-2024. Eric graduated from Dartmouth College in 1989 and from Wisconsin Law School, Order of the Coif, in 1993.