The Ethics of Representing Marijuana-Related Businesses
June 2017
by Justice J. Brooks I |
Since the passage of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2016 (“Medical Marijuana Amendment”), marijuana-related business (“MRBs”) are soliciting lawyers to provide legal advice and assistance. Some have posited that a lawyer advising or assisting a client on the cultivation or dispensing of marijuana under state law is in violation of Rule 1.2(d) of the Arkansas Rules of Professional Conduct given that those activities are still illegal under federal law. However, other states interpreting language identical to Rule 1.2(d) have come to different conclusions and neither the Supreme Court of Arkansas nor the Arkansas Committee on Professional Conduct (“ACPC”) has taken a public stance on this issue. This leaves lawyers interested in representing MRBs with two choices: (1) risk violating Rule 1.2(d) by working with MRBs or (2) deprive MRBs of needed legal representation.
Note: The above is an excerpt from an article in the Spring 2017 issue of The Arkansas Lawyer. Please click the link below to see the published article.
For more information on this article or other medical marijuana issues please contact Justice J. Brooks I at 501-379.1723 or jbrooks@QGTlaw.com.