Mr. Goldberg spearheaded the establishment of the firm’s Cannabis Industry Practice group in 2015, which he has managed since. He possesses a deep working knowledge of the complex and unique federal and state laws and regulations, including the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and anti-money laundering laws (AML), that impact businesses and individuals with cannabis-related interests. His experience in this regard includes:

·         Providing regulatory advice to cannabis growers, processors, dispensaries, and testing laboratories with respect to compliance with state adult-use and medical marijuana laws and regulations;

·         Providing regulatory advice in cannabis-related mergers and acquisitions to ensure such transactions are structured to comply with state adult-use and medical marijuana laws and regulations;

·         Providing regulatory advice to ancillary non-cannabis companies in various industries, including consumer packaged goods, banks and financial services, advertising, raw materials, industrial agriculture and equipment, and packaging, regarding entering the cannabis space and providing services to cannabis companies under the U.S. federal and state cannabis regulatory regime, with a particular emphasis on the CSA and AML.

·         Representing clients in cannabis-related state agency investigations and actions regarding alleged violations of state cannabis laws and regulations;

·         Advising cannabis and hemp clients with respect to supply chain arrangements to ensure production and distribution requirements comply with federal and state laws and regulations;

·         Providing regulatory advice to hemp-derived CBD product manufacturers with respect to the compliance with state-by-state hemp laws and regulations that would impact the nationwide distribution and retail sale of CBD-containing consumer products;

·         Conducting due diligence of cannabis merger and acquisition targets with respect to their cannabis operations and historical compliance with state cannabis laws and regulations; and

·         Advising as to the structure of new cannabis ventures, and assisting with developing the content for their cannabis permit applications.

In addition to representing clients with cannabis-related interests in regulatory matters and actions, business disputes and litigation, and mergers and acquisitions, Mr. Goldberg is an industry thought leader, writing and speaking frequently on cannabis-related issues. In this connection, Mr. Goldberg steers the firm’s relationship as the National Law Partner of the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp (“ATACH”), which was the first partnership between a Cannabis trade association and an Am Law 100 firm. Mr. Goldberg and others at Duane Morris routinely collaborate with ATACH and industry stakeholders on issues of high importance to the cannabis industry, and Mr. Goldberg sits on ATACH’s Capital Markets Council, Cannabis Beverages Council and CBD Task Force.

In 2022, the prestigious Chambers and Partners acknowledged Mr. Goldberg for the fourth consecutive year as being in the “Top-Tier Nationwide” among lawyers who practice in the cannabis space, quoting clients as saying, “he’s a top-notch lawyer who really knows his stuff” and “he’s consistently responsive and knowledgeable.” He was recognized by The Legal 500 as a “Leading Lawyer in Cannabis” in 2021, and received the Legal Intelligencer’s Professional Excellence Award as a “Law Firm Innovator” for his cannabis practice in 2021.