FED. JUDGES UNDERMINE POT CONTRACTS: LAWYER

Harris Bricken attorney Vince Sliwoski suggests federal judges’ unwillingness to enforce cannabis contracts could damage the industry.
WeedWeek

• Sliwoski points to several 2020 court decisions where federal judges seem to be backsliding on precedent where they would “sever” illegal aspects of the business out of their rulings. Now a few cases show judges’ reluctance to do so.
• While the trend could have to do with hostility to cannabis from the Trump administration, he thinks judicial caution is a more likely reason.
• Judges, he said, don’t want to do “intellectual gymnastics to somehow fashion a remedy for someone that’s doing something that’s expressly prohibited federally.”
• To avoid situations like this, he said companies make want to put severability clauses in their contracts or litigate disputes in state court or arbitration. Though he cautioned neither is a perfect fix.

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