1 Hour MCLE. Presented by the CLA Cannabis Practitioners Group

Paul Hagen has been working in the Environmental Law field since 1989, including eleven years as an Environmental Prosecutor in the District Attorneys’ Offices in Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake and Mendocino Counties focusing on regulatory compliance.  Other past specialties include soil and groundwater remediation, land use, and public law.  Currently a solo practitioner based in Humboldt County where he has lived since 1999, including serving as a City of Arcata Planning Commissioner for nine years, Paul’s practice now includes commercial cannabis permitting and licensing, as well as leases, easements and other land use legal services.  Paul was the lead author in the chapter titled “Commercial Cannabis Development: Licensing and Permitting” in the Lexis/Nexis “California Environmental Law and Land Use Practice” treatise, published May 2023.

Shay Aaron Gilmore advises and counsels exclusively cannabis operators and investors through the corporate, commercial, and regulatory complexities of California’s legal cannabis markets, focusing on private mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity financings, cannabis distribution and supply agreements, cannabis licensing and product development and regulatory compliance matters. Shay has been recognized by the Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal, the state’s largest-circulation legal news periodical, as one of the Top 20 Cannabis Lawyers in California. Super Lawyers® Magazine has named Shay a Northern California Super Lawyer in Cannabis Law and in Business & Corporate Law. Shay serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Cannabis Bar Association and as the Immediate Past Chair of the Bar Association of San Francisco Cannabis Law Section where Shay organized the first group of volunteer attorneys to provide pro bono legal services to social equity individuals verified under San Francisco’s Cannabis Equity Program. Shay holds a B.A. in Economics from Rice University and a J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law.

Ross Gordon is Policy Director with Humboldt County Growers Alliance, the trade association representing licensed cannabis operators in Humboldt County. He also serves as Policy Chair with Origins Council, a statewide research and advocacy organization representing 800 small cannabis businesses in Humboldt, Mendocino, Trinity, Nevada County, and Big Sur.

Nicholas Sanders is a political and election law attorney based in Sacramento.  Prior to entering private practice, Nicholas worked for the Chair of the Federal Election Commission, and in the Legal Division of the California Fair Political Practices Commission.  His practice focuses on the drafting and qualification of ballot measures, as well as the complex compliance rules associated with campaigns to support or oppose ballot measures and referenda.  He also specializes in ballot measure litigation at the trial court and appellate levels.  In addition to his work in the initiative and referendum space, his practice assists candidates, political committees, corporate and nonprofit entities and other groups engage with the heavily-regulated political process.  Nicholas also teaches campaign finance at UC Davis School of Law.