If you feel like you haven’t heard enough about the ins and outs of herb law, you’re in luck, because we had to bring back one of the most pivotal younger figures in the world of California ca**abis legal representation to chop it up about some of his biggest horror stories and dive deeper into his litigation lore.

Blackleaf is joined in the FSOTD studio once again by Chris Hickok, aka “Alien At Law,” to further uncork the mysteries and hurdles of operating legally today, some of the legal myths still believed by old-school cultivators, the laundry list of culture-shaping brands that Chris represents, the biggest crash-outs he’s seen between business partners, the craziest ways he’s seen a license get pulled, the importance of having the break-up talk before signing contracts, and so much more.

For the uninitiated, Chris Hickok is an attorney based in California who co-founded HK Law and serves as Chief of Legal Compliance at Primary Growth Partners (PGP), where he specializes in boutique regulatory and corporate counsel for 🍃 operators. He has handled over 200 state and local cannabis license applications and previously practiced at Shevin Law Group, a leading Southern California herb law firm.

Chris’s clients are definitely a topic of interest during this pod. You’ll find out he’s the current legal counsel for brands like Your Highness, Broken Promises, Smoken Promises, Terphogz, Alien Labs, Connected, The TenCo, Seed Junky Genetics, and many, many, many more. By the end of this episode, you 100% lose count of all the industry legends this guy represents in California.

One of the other biggest topics that comes up during this interview is building original IP in the 🍃industry, the dangers of it potentially appealing to children, as well as the regularly occurring trademark infringements across the traditional and legal herb markets. At one point, Chris even weighs in on the Glass House situation, as well as the dangers of posting any type of trapper content on social media or online, especially if your mylars are ripping off trademarked characters from Disney, Nickelodeon, or the like.

If you’re looking for insight into the ways that herb businesses can go horribly awry when you’re using someone else’s name on a license, even if it’s your sibling, and some scary stories about that other person coming in and taking over your business, sit tight. Chris tells all in this juicy pod where he eventually points out the biggest red flags you should look for when investing in a cultivation or retail herb business.

There’s truly so much your average industry member doesn’t understand about covering their ass legally, and that’s why conversations with legendary lawyers like Chris matter, because he was there fresh out of passing his Bar Exam at the cups in SoCal in 2016 onward, meeting the need for legal represensation very early on for young players that just need someone that they can trust. Strap in for the full pod and take notes, and consider reaching out for a consultation via @alienatlaw on IG.

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