The purpose of this webinar is to deliver education to solo and small firm lawyers about the practice of cannabis and hemp law in California. Our learning objectives include fundamental knowledge about cannabis and hemp law issues, how solo practitioners can build a law practice focused on cannabis and hemp law in California, and how the future of the cannabis and hemp industries will impact solo and small firm lawyers.

Speakers: Ryan Kocot, Shay Aaron Gilmore, and Jessica C. McElfresh

Attorney Erin Joyce has extensive experience in State Bar investigations and disciplinary proceedings, plus over twenty-five years of civil litigation practice. Erin was admitted in 1990 and practiced for nearly eight years in an intellectual property boutique before joining the Office of Chief Trial Counsel as a prosecutor for the State Bar, from 1997 through 2016. Erin has over twenty years of experience handling all aspects of discipline cases against attorneys in State Bar Court, from the filing of the complaint through trial and review. She has personally tried dozens of State Bar trials and several appeals. Erin has a comprehensive understanding of how State Bar investigations and proceedings unfold. Before going into private practice, Erin served as Chief Special Investigator for the Los Angeles Fire Department, as a prosecutor for the State Bar of California, and as a lawyer for multiple private practices.

Ryan Kocot. Ryan provides general counsel services to cannabis businesses and ancillary service providers in California, Massachusetts, and New York. He previously served as the head of legal and compliance for a multinational public cannabis company.
 
Ryan is also a Forbes.com contributor, where he covers legal, compliance, and business issues impacting the cannabis industry.

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.

Jessica C. McElfresh of McElfresh Law, Inc. has worked in cannabis law and policy since 2010. Jessica focuses on local and state applications, land use, regulatory compliance, and business law for cannabis licensees.  She also represents people facing discipline or loss of state and local licenses, particularly in the cannabis industry.    

Jessica grew up in San Diego and graduated summa cum laude from Scripps College before attending the University of San Diego School of Law on a Dean’s Honor Scholarship.  She is a former Chair of the International Cannabis Bar Association’s Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee and its Continuing Legal Education Committee, and a former member of its Board of Directors.  Jessica has spoken at conferences and taught continuing legal education classes for organizations and law schools including the California Lawyers Association, Practising Law Institute, International Cannabis Bar Association, San Diego County Bar Association, and University of San Diego School of Law.