Cannabis Company Green Thumb’s Chief Counsel Talks Compliance

By Michael Bologna - Bloomberg Law

Dina Rollman is chief counsel for Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries LLC (GTI), one of the fastest-growing cannabis companies in the country with 19 state-issued licenses for growing, processing, and selling marijuana in Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Rollman never set out to become a “pot lawyer,” but she became intrigued by the complex compliance issues emerging three years ago as Illinois became a medical marijuana state.

Rollman left her job as a litigator at Sperling & Slater PC in 2015 to form Rollman Law Group PC, which focused exclusively on marijuana clients including GTI. In April, GTI’s partners called on Rollman to take on chief counsel duties to help them navigate a difficult legal climate in which its chief product remains illegal under the federal Controlled Substance Act, but is nonetheless legal under a patchwork of laws in 29 states and the District of Columbia.