Law360 selected Dentons’ Cannabis group as 2020 Practice Group of the Year in the cannabis category. The Practice Group of the Year awards honor the law firms behind major deals and wins that resonated throughout the legal industry in the past year. This year’s winning practice groups rose to the top of more than 800 applicants.

Formally launched in 2019, Dentons’ Cannabis group is led by partners Eric Berlin and Kathryn Ashton. Among their major wins this year, the team represented Cura Partners, the largest cannabis company on the West Coast, in its sale to Curaleaf, the largest on the East Coast. Originally valued at just under US$1 billion, it is the largest US cannabis deal to date. The deal required navigating a host of complex factors, including M&A, tax, intellectual property and regulatory compliance work.

Throughout 2020, Dentons' Cannabis practice helped clients prepare and submit state medical cannabis cultivation and dispensary applications, lending transactions, securities offerings and other corporate transactions. Advising and representing clients in this sector requires an understanding and appreciation of a broad range of legal, regulatory, operational and financial considerations for both the medical and recreational use of cannabis, as well as the expanding cannabidiol (CBD) oil and hemp industries.

As a cohesive, cross-disciplinary team of best-in-class lawyers, Dentons’ Cannabis group provides legal counsel in all substantive areas affecting clients in or impacted by the industry globally. Reflecting Dentons’ core commitment to diversity and inclusion, a majority of the Cannabis team are women and nearly half are people of color. The group engages in thought leadership consistently, including through weekly client alerts, regular events and webinars through the “Globalization of Cannabis” series, quotes in the media and articles published in industry journals.