Cannabis and the Effects on Business Relationships

Anne van Leynseele is one of the sharpest minds in legal cannabis and hemp today. With a JD and an International Executive MBA, Anne is the consummate corporate cannabis lawyer. Anne’s present practice focuses on the regulatory compliance, expansion, and exit strategies for domestic and trans-national cannabis, CBD, and hemp companies and providing legal counsel to national and international non-cannabis businesses seeking entry to the cannabis space. Anne views each client’s legal needs through a commercial lens and this quickly expanding global supply chain. She becomes a trusted legal tactician and strategic business advisor to her clients, while vigilantly identifying potential risks and emerging opportunities.

Anne’s clients benefit from her years of cutting-edge experience in this evolving industry, which holds grey areas and interpretations of the matrix of law, rules, regulations, and policy. This forces companies to make decisions which can cost time, money, and market presence. From day one, she has educated, advised, and protected the financial interests of companies and investors as well as directing the pragmatic implementation of sound corporate governance, compliance, development, licensing, commercial viability, acquisition and asset management.

Before entering this highly regulated industry, Anne spent four years as a federal attorney advisor in Washington DC for Obama One. Prior to that, Anne managed commercial transactions, business development of production and technology start-up entities, advised on process efficiency, defined stronger corporate communication strategies for many Fortune 100 companies, and did business management consulting in Sydney Australia. In her spare time, she works with at-risk youth, surfs, has a heritage cooking website, is an amateur fashionista, and co-owns and manages an international award-winning chocolate and avocado farm on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Kari Petrasek is a graduate of the Seattle University School of Law. She is currently a solo attorney in Mukilteo, Washington and has significant experience in the area of juvenile law, handling mostly dependency and termination matters and also juvenile offender cases. Ms. Petrasek is also a dedicated advocate for children, having served as a Guardian ad Litem for dependent children. In addition, Ms. Petrasek has served as a judge and commissioner pro tempore for Snohomish County Superior Court for over ten years. An experienced litigator, she also handles guardianship, elder law, estate planning, and family law matters.

Belle Hsu is a Senior Legal Editor at Thomson Reuters’ Practical Law after having her own law practice in California providing advice and counsel on labor and employment law to employers. Prior to that, she was director of human resources and associate general counsel for Advanced Bionics Corporation and was an employment attorney for BP America Inc.'s West Coast operations.

Before going in-house, she specialized in labor and employment law as an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP and Littler Mendelson, P.C., both in Los Angeles. She is currently on the Advisory Board and is a former Past President of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County (APABA-LA).