Cannabis

What is “Piercing the Corporate Veil” and Why Does Every Business Owner Need to Avoid It?

By Charlie Carlin, Fortis Law Partners Piercing the corporate veil is an important legal and business concept many entrepreneurs aren’t familiar with. Business owners put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into making their company successful. Hopefully, things go well, the company grows and is profitable. However, sometimes things go wrong, and the business gets sued. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs don’t know they could personally end up on the hook

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October 4, 2022

Colorado’s New Non-Compete Law: 8 Key Takeaways

By Liz Hartsel Colorado’s Restrictive Employments Agreement Act (HB 22-1317) (the “Act”), became effective on August 10, 2022. It dramatically changes Colorado’s law regarding non-competition agreements, non-solicitation agreements, and confidentiality agreements relating to workers. Here’s what you need to know and do now: Changes to Enforceability of Non-Compete Agreements Non-competes in Colorado remain void unless they fall within certain exemptions. The Act, however, changes those exemptions. For example, there is

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October 4, 2022

New Ruling Helps Clear Up Industry Confusion on the Matter of Delta-8 THC

By Michael Annerino On May 19, 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion in AK Futures LLC v. Boyd Street Distro, LLC, 35 F.4th 682 (9th Cir. 2022). In it, the Ninth Circuit held that “the only statutory metric for distinguishing controlled marijuana from legal hemp is the [0.3 percent by dry weight volume] delta-9 THC concentration level.” The Court also writes that

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October 3, 2022

What You Need to Know about Recent Changes to the Delaware General Corporation Law

Effective August 1, 2022, amended Section 102(b)(7) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) permits a Delaware corporation to implement a provision in its certificate of incorporation to eliminate or limit the personal liability of certain officers of the corporation for monetary damages to the corporation or its stockholders for the breach of the fiduciary duty of care (an “exculpation provision”). Prior to this amendment, Delaware corporations were only authorized

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October 3, 2022

Avoid Founder Equity Missteps That Can Cause Long-Term Headaches

By Dustin Rickett For many new businesses, startups especially, equity grants are often the primary method of compensating founders for their hard work building a business in its earliest stages. Given the importance of these grants, it is paramount that founders ensure they comply with applicable corporate, securities, tax and other laws to avoid headaches that may not surface until far later in the company’s development. Below are a few

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October 3, 2022

How to Prepare for New SEC Climate Change Disclosure Filing and Reporting Rules

By Roxane Peyser The massive international impacts of climate change in the form of wildfires, drought, rising temperatures, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes and more have created billions of dollars of costs and wreaked havoc on the financial stability of both government and private industry. The destabilizing impacts of climate change on the economy and financial stability have led to greater SEC involvement including newly proposed climate disclosure rules expected to be

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September 13, 2022

Employment Law 101: What You Should Know to Protect Your Business

By Liz Hartsel Owning a business comes with many responsibilities, and when entrepreneurs reach the point where they need to hire employees, a whole new set of obligations arise. Unfortunately, many business owners find themselves woefully underprepared in this arena–and through no fault of their own! After all, they’re focusing on selling innovative products and services, not dealing with the nitty-gritty details of being an HR manager and creating formal

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September 6, 2022

Gender Dysphoria Now Qualifies as a Disability Under the ADA in Certain States

By Liz Hartsel On August 16, 2020, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals declared that gender dysphoria–a sense of distress that a person whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth may feel—can quality as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). In doing so, the Fourth Circuit was the first appellate to rule on this issue. The Court’s decision immediately impacts employers in Maryland, North

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August 26, 2022

The Top 3 Legal Mistakes Cannabis Businesses Make (And How to Avoid Them)

By Henry Baskerville The cannabis industry has attracted many creative, innovative entrepreneurs. And while they’re often skilled at cultivation, production, extraction or brand-building, sometimes, they aren’t as knowledgeable about business legalities and navigating the myriad risks inherent in running a cannabis company. Entrepreneurs in other industries often have an MBA and strive to build their business for years before it ever hits $5-10 million in annual sales. But in cannabis,

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August 11, 2022

Addressing Conflicts Between Colorado Paid Sick Leave and Unlimited Paid Time Off Policies

What Employers Need to Know to Avoid Headaches By Leni Plimpton In this extremely tight hiring market, many employers have embraced the trend of “unlimited” paid time off. This policy sounds great for recruiting—but it has its critics. Such policies can create a culture with, effectively, no time off. Where there is a hard-driving culture, employees without a firm amount of time may take far less than the average of

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June 20, 2022

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