Harris Bricken: There is No Such Thing as Boilerplate in a Cannabis Contract

 

If you’re still at the point where you are playing lawyer sometimes or all of the time with your cannabis business contracts, then this post is for you.

I grew up in rural Wisconsin with two parents who were raised in the wake of the Great Depression. My parents had a bunch of kids, and we did not have a lot of extra money beyond covering our necessities. I share this because when I talk to prospective cannabis clients who are worried about finances, I understand where they are coming from. They always want to know if we can discount our fees or sign off on a boilerplate contract they bought for $50 online or cobbled together from a few other contracts. Unfortunately for them – but also fortunately for them – we don’t work like that because nothing we do is boilerplate.

Lawyers and businesspeople talk about boilerplate in contracts, but hemp and marijuana business owners throw the term around differently than lawyers do. When business owners talk about boilerplate, they use the term to encompass any contract or contract term they think doesn’t matter very much. Often I hear, “We have already put together the business terms – you just fill in the boilerplate.”

I know that a lot of non-lawyers do not read every word of every contract they sign. When lawyers talk about boilerplate, we’re referring only to those parts of the contract that generally come at the end of the contract. That is the part of the contract that most non-lawyers never read and even some lawyers gloss over.

FULL ARTICLE

There is No Such Thing as Boilerplate in a Cannabis Contract

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Author Bios

Canada
Matt Maurer – Minden Gross
Jeff Hergot – Wildboer Dellelce LLP

Costa Rica
Tim Morales – The Cannabis Industry Association Costa Rica

Nicaragua
Elvin Rodríguez Fabilena

USA

General
Julie Godard
Carl L Rowley -Thompson Coburn LLP

Arizona
Jerry Chesler – Chesler Consulting

California
Ian Stewart – Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
Otis Felder – Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
Lance Rogers – Greenspoon Marder – San Diego
Jessica McElfresh -McElfresh Law – San Diego
Tracy Gallegos – Partner – Fox Rothschild

Colorado
Adam Detsky – Knight Nicastro
Dave Rodman – Dave Rodman Law Group
Peter Fendel – CMR Real Estate Network
Nate Reed – CMR Real Estate Network

Florida
Matthew Ginder – Greenspoon Marder
David C. Kotler – Cohen Kotler

Illinois
William Bogot – Fox Rothschild

Massachusetts
Valerio Romano, Attorney – VGR Law Firm, PC

Nevada
Neal Gidvani – Snr Assoc: Greenspoon Marder
Phillip Silvestri – Snr Assoc: Greenspoon Marder

Tracy Gallegos – Associate Fox Rothschild

New Jersey

Matthew G. Miller – MG Miller Intellectual Property Law LLC
Daniel T. McKillop – Scarinci Hollenbeck, LLC

New York
Gregory J. Ryan, Esq. Tesser, Ryan & Rochman, LLP
Tim Nolen Tesser, Ryan & Rochman, LLP
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Oregon
Paul Loney & Kristie Cromwell – Loney Law Group
William Stewart – Half Baked Labs

Pennsylvania
Andrew B. Sacks – Managing Partner Sacks Weston Diamond
William Roark – Principal Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin
Joshua Horn – Partner Fox Rothschild

Washington DC
Teddy Eynon – Partner Fox Rothschild