About

With an expanding market and increasingly sophisticated actors, the legal cannabis industry is more dynamic than ever. Entrepreneurs, investors, brands, and other cannabis industry stakeholders continue to encounter industry-specific challenges that require the guidance of experienced counsel.

Led by cannabis business attorneys Laura Bianchi and Justin Brandt, the practice group offers experience-based expertise in legal, administrative, regulatory, and business issues facing the marijuana industry. The cannabis law team at Bianchi & Brandt began advising individuals and businesses in the marijuana industry before the implementation of Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Program in 2010, and has since facilitated many of the industry’s largest corporate transactions across the country.

In addition to offering advice and strategic support to many established operators in the cannabis industry, B&B's cannabis business practice provides guidance and direction to new entrants of the industry. The group offers all of its clients with the individually-tailored guidance necessary for businesses to survive and thrive in this highly regulated and highly competitive industry.

The cannabis industry practice group at B&B is proud to provide exceptional client services in conjunction with informed, innovative, and objective-driven solutions for clients seeking to capture business and investment opportunities in the cannabis space.

The cannabis practice at Bianchi & Brandt offers assistance to the cannabis industry in service areas including the following:

• Strategic business planning, including entity selection, formation, governance and best practices

• Corporate governance and management, including bylaws, operating, partnership and shareholder agreements

• Private debt and equity financing, including friends/family, angel, venture capital and private equity

• Commercial loans

• Mergers and acquisitions

• Joint ventures and strategic alliances

• Best practices

• Employment handbooks

• Policies and procedures

• Shareholder/owner buyouts and dispute resolution

• Licensing and regulatory compliance

• Licensing submittals

• Real estate transactions, including purchase and sale agreements, commercial and retail lease agreements

• Municipal law and zoning compliance

• Government relations and lobbying

• Intellectual property procurement and strategic counselling, including trademark selection, clearance, and procurement

• Labor and employment matters, including employment, independent contractor and consulting agreements

• Confidentiality, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements

• Supplier and manufacturing agreements

• Customer agreements

• Counselling, advice and direction related to medical practitioners and medical directors