Cannabiz Issue 1

CATAGORY Q&A
New Frontiers
AFTER OPENING THE FIRST DISPENSARIES IN DENVER AND UP AND
DOWN THE WEST COAST, THE LAW FIRM SPREAD ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
TODAY THE BUSINESS HAS AN INTERNATIONAL FOCUS, OPERATING IN
AT LEAST 10 COUNTRIES. KATY MICALLEF SAT DOWN WITH FOUNDER
AND PRESIDENT OF HOBAN LAW GROUP, BOB HOBAN, TO DISCUSS THEIR
TRANSITION FROM ORDINARY LAWYERS TO INDUSTRY EXPERTS.
Like most of the stories in this magazine, Bob Hoban’s
journey into the cannabis industry is a deeply
personal one. For Bob it was watching his mother’s
deal with painful cancer treatment back in 2005 that
led him to seek answers for her pain management
that lay outside of the traditional sphere.
TO BE CONSIDERED INDUSTRY EXPERTS, THAT’S
QUITE A RESPONSIBILITY...
I’m very confident that if you’re a government, an
investor, or someone trying to develop a business plan
to operate in this space that there’s no better people
to talk to, to understand objectively the current status
of the cannabis industry marketplace and to look at
different entry points and opportunities. Over the
years our clients have made a lot of mistakes. We’ve
made a lot of mistakes with them. We’ve helped them
get through a number of challenges, so we speak from
experience and are ready to take on that responsibility.
Sometimes our job is to save people from themselves
- they think they understand the industry, they think
they understand a good investment, they think they
understand what a good market-based business plan
is; more often than not they don’t. We help build world
class cannabis businesses.
It’s the nature of being a professional, you have an
obligation both legally and ethically to do things for
your clients that are appropriate and if that leads to
things that are a bit broader than traditional legal
services and you find out that you’re good at it, you
just do it. It’s that approach to this whole thing that
has made a difference, that’s what’s created us and
put us here to stay. We’re not out to make a quick
buck, we’re not out to take advantage of our clients –
we’re out to build an ecosystem and nearly 10 years
later I’m proud to say we’ve built the world’s largest
cannabis industry network.
HLG IS THE FIRST US-BASED LAW FIRM TO EXPAND
ITS CANNABIS INDUSTRY SERVICES ACROSS THE
GLOBE, WITH ATTORNEYS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION,
LATIN AMERICA, AND BEYOND. WHAT’S NEXT FOR
2019 – ARE YOU LOOKING TO EXPAND INTO ANY
NEW MARKETS?
This year has been about making sure we have the
right calibre and quality of professionals to service
our clients in more diverse regional areas and to be
able to offer more expertise and top-notch service
across the board.
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