The NORML Aspen Legal Seminar has outstanding speakers from around the country presenting important topics such as: issues related to defense of marijuana consumers, legal issues in the cannabis industry, and resources to support each other in the pursuit of justice.
Paul Armentano
Paul Armentano has over two decades experience working professionally in cannabis policy. He is the Deputy Director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, and he also serves on the faculty of Oaksterdam University, where he is the Chair of Science.
His writing on cannabis and cannabis policy has appeared in over 1,000 publications, scholarly and/or peer-reviewed journals, as well as in more than two dozen textbooks and anthologies. Mr. Armentano is the co-author of the book Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? (2009, Chelsea Green), which has been licensed and translated internationally. He is also the author of the book The Citizen’s Guide to State-By-State Marijuana Laws (2015), available from Whitman Publishing.
He is the 2013 Freedom Law School Health Freedom Champion of the Year and the 2013 Alfred R. Lindesmith award recipient in the achievement in the field of scholarship. He is the 2019 recipient of the Al Horn Memorial Award to Advance the Cause of Justice, presented by the NORML Legal Committee.
Joshua Bauchner
Joshua S. Bauchner serves as the chair of the Cannabis, Hemp and Psychedelics Practice Group and is a partner in the Litigation and Bankruptcy practice groups. He brings a depth of expertise and dedication to his practice, where he is involved in complex commercial and securities litigations, class actions, and bankruptcy-related issues. His areas of specialization include:
- Enforcement of commercial contracts such as lease agreements, guaranties, purchase and sale contracts, and commission agreements.
- Litigation of partnership disputes.
- Class action prosecution and defense.
- Claims originating from insurance coverage denials.
- Employment litigation including FLSA, ADA, ADEA, Title VII, and analogous state law claims.
Defense against commercial landlord/tenant and foreclosure actions.
His extensive experience is also evident in representative matters, ranging from construction and design defect claims to defending corporate clients against securities fraud claims presented by the SEC and DOJ to litigating adversary proceedings in bankruptcy.
In the ever-evolving area of psychoactive substances, Josh was instrumental in co-hosting the inaugural Cannabis Symposium in New Jersey, attracting nearly a thousand attendees, with subsequent symposia continuing to garner attention. As a notable member of the New Jersey State Bar Association Cannabis Law Committee, the NORML Legal Committee, and the Amicus Committee, he received the New Jersey Law Journal’s Innovator of the Year Award.*
After graduating from law school, Josh had the honor of clerking for the Honorable Ursula Ungaro at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He also served as the Deputy Director of the Legal Division at the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs.
A passion for education and community development, as a licensed real estate instructor in New York, he educates aspiring real estate professionals, and he has served as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School. Josh also is deeply involved in his community. He was appointed by the Manhattan Borough President to Manhattan Community Board 10, where he served as the Board’s treasurer and co-chaired the Committee on Land Use. Additionally, he played an active role on the Board of Trustees for Wheaton College, the New York Theater Ballet, Frederick Douglass Boulevard Alliance, and the Harlem Wellness Center.
He is admitted to practice in both New York and New Jersey as well as the United States District Court of Michigan, the United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of New York, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits.
In addition to his professional endeavors, Joshua’s thoughts and perspectives have been featured in numerous publications, shedding light on diverse areas such as cannabis laws, creditors’ rights in bankruptcy, and the intricacies of negligence claims.
Joe Bondy
Named one of America’s Top 100 Attorneys and one of the Top 100 Criminal Trial Lawyers by the American College of Trial Lawyers, Joseph Bondy is an internationally-recognized expert in criminal litigation. With over 25 years of superlative trial and federal sentencing experience, Bondy has advised thousands of clients in complex criminal defense, cannabis business and advocacy, and crisis management matters. The New York Times has described him as “eloquent and armed with the serene demeanor of a surgeon,” saying that “his oratorical intensity hovers at the evangelical.” High Times dubbed Bondy “one of the nation’s preeminent cannabis attorneys,” and his outstanding talent for defense strategy has been hailed by such outlets as CNN, Politico, and New York Law Journal, as well as legal analysts from around the world. Bondy’s unique approach to criminal defense and public media strategies were particularly praised on a global level while he represented Lev Parnas, a Guiliani associate connected to the Ukraine scandal leading to Donald Trump’s first impeachment. Bondy and Parnas’s interview on The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC) was its highest audience-drawing episode of all time, earning an Emmy nomination; and a subsequent feature on Anderson Cooper 360 was one of that program’s most-viewed episodes of the year.
Bondy serves on the Board of Directors for NORML and is a Vice President and Board Member of the Cannabis Cultural Association (CCA). A graduate of Columbia University and Brooklyn Law School, Bondy was a leading member of a team of attorneys on the seminal case Washington v Barr (2019), originally Washington v Sessions (2017), which took action against the Department of Justice with the aim to legalize cannabis federally. He is the founder of In The Know 420, a well-known podcast on cannabis law, policy and industry. Bondy is also a lifetime member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and serves on the faculty of Cardozo Law School’s Intensive Trial Advocacy Program (ITAP).
Meeka Bondy
Meeka Bondy’s practice spans the content lifecycle, from the ways that such innovations as AI, AR, VR, and MR influence content creation and development, through to the impact of emerging platforms, networks, devices and apps on content acquisition, licensing and distribution. Serving as a strategic business partner to clients at the intersection of media and technology, she draws on nearly 20 years of executive experience guiding entrepreneurial ventures and innovative transactions at global media and entertainment companies.
With experience on both the buyer and seller side of the table, Meeka is extremely versatile in the windowing strategies, distribution structures, and licensing models explored by movie studios, television networks, streaming services, and digital media companies. Meeka drafts, structures, and negotiates agreements involving distribution by means of theatrical, pay, basic cable, and broadcast television, linear and on demand television, subscription video on demand (SVOD), advertising-based video on demand (AVOD), and transactional video on demand (TVOD). Her knowledge includes electronic sell-through (EST), home video, digital downloads, and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD). Her deep industry experience extends to transactions involving virtual MVPDs, Over-the-Top (OTT), TV Everywhere (TVE), direct-to-consumer (DTC), stand-alone and bundled streaming services and apps, and video game consoles and platforms. Meeka also has significant experience in international licensing matters, addressing such issues as competition law, regulatory requirements, censorship approvals, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA.)
Meeka provided strategic direction, regulatory oversight, and transactional assistance as lead counsel for the internet division of an iconic magazine publisher, the interactive video and advertising startup of a cable operator, and the global content licensing venture of a premium television studio. Working with an OTT streaming service, Meeka negotiated key content acquisition deals with top-tier media and entertainment companies, and advised on a variety of privacy, advertising, technology, regulatory, and business issues. Meeka counseled an independent publisher and production company on the financing, development, production and distribution of feature films and television series based on niche book franchises. She also assisted a print and digital publisher in the international expansion of its software licensing business.
An active member of her professional community, Meeka is a founding board member of AIM (Asian Americans in Media) and the Future Now Media Foundation and founding chair of WICT NY’s (Women in Cable Telecommunications NY) Mentoring Circle. She is a graduate of the Stanford Business School Advanced Leadership Program for Asian American Executives and the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute (Class XXII).
Leonard Frieling
Leonard I. Frieling is the creator and was the first chair of the Colorado Bar Association Cannabis Law Committee, Colorado NORML Board Member Emeritus, Life Member NLC, and “rejuvenator” of the “Life Member, NLC” option, and an inductee of the NLC Distinguished Counsel Circle. Over four decades of criminal defense work, from “traffic to treason,” from stop sign violations to racketeering, rape, tons of drugs, including the representation of “Mom” in the worst child sex abuse case in Boulder County History. Eight years chair, Boulder Criminal Defense Bar, two years consecutive (unprecedented) chair, Colorado Bar Association Criminal Law Committee Executive Council. Colorado superlawyer for over a decade. Awarded “Courage Under Fire” for resigning as a judge as a political statement opposing proposed pot offense penalty increases in Lafayette, Colorado.
Champion with help of the yearly Hunter Thompson Scholarship for the NORML Aspen Conference. Our board, Colorado NORML sponsor[s] one or two complete scholarships for a long list of people who became superstars in the legalization effort internationally.
Nationally and internationally known lecturer, writer, and activist on marijuana legalization issues. My Canary iPhone app LLC member and co-developer, objectively measures performance impairment. Numerous media appearances, including co-hosting Time4Hemp for a number of years. Speaker for LEAP Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Guest lecturer and presenter at University of Colorado and Denver University Law events and classes. Presented (and helped create) alternate 4/20 events at University of Colorado. Presenter at a number of Denver 4/20 and Boulder 4/20 events. Proud graduate of Rutgers Law, working with the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Two terms, Boulder Bar Assoc. Board of Directors. Two terms, Colorado Municipal Judges Association. CLEs on cannabis presented to the Judges Association. Two terms, including chair, VALE (Victims and Law Enforcement Board) allocating money to victims’ groups. Creator of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar website and listservs, with Phil Cherner. Published articles and presented CLEs in many places on Email Etiquette. Life member of the Colorado Criminal Bar Association. Creator of the “life member” option for the CCDB. Several terms on the CCDB Board of Directors.
CLE presentations have included Motions, Advanced Motions Practice, Winning Every Case Every Time, The Science of Marijuana, Many presentation for the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, with a Search and Seizure presentation schedule for 100 minutes April 12/13, 2019. presentation on many aspects of DUI law, ethics presentations, many presentations, a truly great honor, to this NLC, and more. Publications in multiple places locally, statewide, and nationally, over a wide range of topics. Media interviews on all media. Chaired Colorado NORML while simultaneously acting as a LEAP speaker and as a media source during the A-64 successful recreational marijuana campaign in Colorado.
Especially proud of having created the “first in the Nation” state bar association Cannabis Law Committee. From their yearly report for 2017: “The current officer positions are held by the following people: Graham Gerritsen, Chairperson; Jeff Wilson, Co-Vice Chairperson; Michael Elliot, Co-Vice Chairperson; and Lindsey Killion, Secretary. A special mention is deserved by the CLC’s initial Chairperson, Lenny Frieling, who served in that position from the CLC’s inception until he stepped down in March of 2017. Mr. Frieling blazed a path for the CLC with the Bar Association and led the CLC successfully through unknown territory during its infancy.”
Morgan Fox
Morgan Fox is the Political Director at NORML, focusing on congressional lobbying and changing federal cannabis laws. As a professional cannabis policy reform advocate since 2008, Morgan has been directly involved in dozens of successful state ballot initiative campaigns to establish medical and adult use cannabis programs, as well as legislative victories at the local, state, and federal levels. He has been featured in hundreds of print, radio, television, and online publications. Morgan was most recently the Media Relations Director and chief spokesperson for the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) before joining NORML, and spent nearly a decade at the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) prior to that. He lives in Washington, DC, and when he’s not working to end prohibition and repair the damage it has caused, he can usually be found exploring the numerous parks and playgrounds of our nation’s capital with his children.
Gerald “Gerry” Harris Goldstein
Gerry Goldstein is a nationally known and respected defense lawyer at Goldstein, Goldstein & Hilley in San Antonio, Texas. He is a past president of both the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. He has served as amicus curiae for NACDL in many high-profile cases, including CNN v. Manuel Noriega and Joe Does v. United States, arguing lawyers should not be required to disclose the identity of cash-paying clients on IRS forms.
His forceful Congressional testimony during the 1996 House Waco hearings is credited with helping to turn the tide against further suppression of citizens’ rights in America. More recently, he represented Dr. Al-Badr Al Hazmi, a fifth-year radiology resident in San Antonio who was arrested on Sept. 12, 2001. Subsequently, Goldstein testified before Congress on his client’s request to speak with counsel. Gerry Goldstein is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Texas Lawyer’s Legal Legends. He also has been profiled in numerous publications, served as an adjunct professor of law at University of Texas School of Law in Austin and at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio and is a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
He also is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. In his role as an adjunct professor, Gerry teaches a course titled Advanced Criminal Law (Defense of a Complex Federal Prosecution). Other lectures and presentations include U.S. Supreme Court updates, Crawford & the Current State of the Hearsay Rule, Crossing the Double Crosser and Federal Appeals.
His published works include: Grand Jury Practice; Pretrial Release; Indictment [Joinder/Severance/Transfer]; Pretrial Motions; Suppression of Evidence; Jury Selection; Trial [Evidence]; Examination of Witnesses; Jury Instructions; Closing Arguments; Creative Trial Techniques; Criminal Issues – Civil Cases; Jury Arguments [Closings to Remember]; Search and Seizure; Life and Hearsay – Post Crawford Era; Federal Appeals; and Supreme Court Review.
Gerry earned his juris doctor at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, Texas, in 1968. He also graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1965, with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.
Gerry received a certification in Criminal Law in 1975 from the State Bar of Texas. He holds the following bar admissions: Texas (1968), Colorado (1989), U.S. District Court Western District of Texas (1970), U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit (1982), U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit (1970), U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit (1983), U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit (1979), U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit (1983), U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit (1981) and the U.S. Supreme Court (1975).
Gerry Goldstein received NORML’s Al Horn Memorial award in 1999, which commemorated a lifetime of advocacy and support for responsible marijuana law reform. He has also received the following honors and awards: Best Lawyers in America, 1987 — Present; Texas Monthly – Texas Super Lawyers; Top 100 Texas Super Lawyers; Top 50 Central and West Texas Region Super Lawyers, Criminal Defense: White Collar, 2003 — 2007; Scene in SA Monthly – San Antonio’s Best Attorneys, San Antonio Law, Top Ten Lawyers, 2004 — present; Texas Lawyer Legal Legends, 100 Best Lawyers over Last 100 years (100 Year Anniversary of State Bar of Texas), 2000; Fellow, State Bar Foundation, 1976 — Present; Recipient, Robert C. Heeney Memorial Award [Outstanding Criminal Defense Attorney in the United States] from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1991; Recipient, Outstanding Criminal Defense Lawyer in Texas from the State Bar of Texas, 1991; Justice Albert Tate, Jr. Award [Outstanding Contribution to Criminal Advocacy] from the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1993; Recipient, John Henry Faulk Civil Libertarian of the Year Award from the American Civil Liberties Union; Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Hall of Fame, 2002; Marquis Who’s Who, Who’s Who in American Law, 14th Edition, 2006 — 2008; First Annual Michael J. Kennedy Social Justice Award, George Washington University, (May, 2016); William S. Sessions American Inns of Court First Annual Goldstein Award of Excellence (2015); San Antonio Bar Association, Joe Frazier Brown, Jr., Award of Excellence for Outstanding Leadership and Service to the Legal Community & Citizens of Texas, 2016.
He is a member of the following professional associations: National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Past President (1994 — 1995); Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Past President; International Academy of Trial Lawyers; American College of Trial Lawyers; American Board of Criminal Lawyers; American Board of Trial Advocates, President ; Dean’s Round Table, University of Texas School of Law; Texas Civil Liberties Union; San Antonio Bar Association; American Bar Association; and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.
Hal Haddon
As one of the founding members of Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, Hal Haddon’s practice focuses on representing individuals and companies in white collar crime, complex civil litigation, and government investigations. He has broad expertise in many areas of criminal and civil litigation in state and federal courts across the country.
Hal consistently has been recognized by his peers as one of the top trial attorneys in the country and he is well known for his vigorous representation of individuals and companies in high profile criminal and civil litigation.
Before forming the firm in 1976 with Brian Morgan, Hal served as Chief Trial Deputy for the Colorado Public Defender’s Office and briefly taught criminal trial advocacy as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Denver School of Law. He continues to lecture on criminal justice and litigation topics around the country.
A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, Hal has served on numerous ABA national committees and task forces seeking to reform the criminal justice system.
Hal has been active in his community for many decades, serving on the Board of Trustees for Legal Aid Foundation of Colorado and the boards of directors for Fresh Start, Inc., the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Colorado and the Duke Law School Board of Visitors.
Hal was the Campaign Manager for Colorado U.S. Senator Gary Hart’s 1974 and 1980 campaigns as well as the National Political Director for Senator Hart’s Presidential Campaign in 1987. He also served as the Finance Chairman for Colorado Governor Richard Lamm’s 1978 campaign.
John Wesley Hall
John Wesley Hall, Little Rock criminal defense attorney, is a Past President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Hall received the organization’s prestigious Robert C. Heeney Award in 2002 for service to the criminal defense bar. He was chair of the NACDL Ethics Advisory Committee from 1990-2005, and on the International Criminal Court’s Disciplinary Appeals Tribunal. He has tried 250+ jury trials and handled 250+ appeals, including three in the U.S. Supreme Court. He is the author of Search and Seizure (3d ed., 4th ed. forthcoming), Professional Responsibility in Criminal Defense Practice (3d ed.), Trial Handbook for Arkansas Lawyers (4th ed.), and numerous articles. He has done CLEs in 38 states, 3 provinces, and The Hague.
Bernard Jocuns
Practicing in State and Federal Court, Lapeer attorney Bernard Jocuns is the current of Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan, a past president of the Lapeer County Bar Association and is an active member of the following organizations: (Inaugural Chairperson) Cannabis Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan, Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan (Board Member), Michigan Association for Justice, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (lifetime member), National Lawyers Guild, American Association for Justice, Justice Caucus Michigan Democratic Party (Board Member), (Chairperson) Lapeer Zoning Board of Appeals, Lapeer County Criminal Defense Bar Association (founding member & President), American Legion (lifetime member) & NORML Legal Committee (lifetime member).
Bernard is also Editor & Author of the Medicolegal Aspects of Marijuana in Michigan (Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company) released June 2019 & is the Host of the Podcast the Bernard Jocuns Holy Happy Hour.
Bernard is also faculty for Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan and has multiple published opinions in the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court.
Andrew Kline
Andrew Kline is a strategic counselor to a diverse client base within emerging and highly regulated industries. He currently co-chairs the Cannabis and Psychedelics Industry Group at Perkins Coie LLP, providing clients with both law and policy expertise on sensitive matters— including transactions, litigation, trademark and copyright protection, strategic public policy, regulatory affairs, crisis management, and coalition building—all to protect and advance both shareholder value and external reputation. In addition to a law degree, Kline has a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Kline formed and currently leads legal and public policy strategy for the Coalition for Cannabis Scheduling Reform founded to inform and influence the Biden administration’s cannabis scheduling review process. He recently co-authored and published a comprehensive legal and policy submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), bringing together a diverse team of scientific experts and legal professionals to advance the policies most important to the industry. He also created the National Cannabis Lab Council, a coalition of cannabis testing labs that brings together competitive organizations to advance national lab testing standards, an issue paramount to the industry’s growth. Kline has testified before the FDA and created and led multiple issue-oriented coalitions and policy councils at both the national and state levels.
As a federal prosecutor for 14 years and as crime and drug policy advisor to then Vice President Biden and to then Senator Biden, Kline spent six years in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he built and led interagency task forces charged with investigating, disrupting, and prosecuting domestic and international human trafficking syndicates. As an Assistant United States Attorney, he investigated cases involving dozens of federal criminal statutes, first-chaired 43 jury trials, and handled multiple bench trials and criminal appeals. While serving as Chief of Staff to the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator in the Executive Office of the President (Obama), Kline formed and led a public-private coalition to combat the proliferation of counterfeit pharmaceuticals being sold over the Internet and drafted a white paper for Congress on behalf of then Vice President Biden. Kline also served in the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau. Kline also worked as Director of Public Policy for the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) and President of the National Association of Cannabis Businesses. He is the current chair of the Food and Drug Law Institute’s cannabis committee, a member of American Herbal Products Association’s cannabis committee, and sits on the Cannabis Compliance Board for the state of Nevada.
Kline is a frequent contributor and public speaker, as well as a recognized and published thought leader on a wide range of issues such as incremental cannabis reform, the future of interstate commerce, and the impacts of the dormant commerce clause.
Lauren Maytin
Born and raised in southeastern Virginia, Lauren began visiting Colorado in 1975. Her early exposure to Colorado instilled in her a love affair with Colorado and its mountains. Lauren moved to Colorado in 1989 to attend the University of Colorado, Boulder. After undergraduate school, Lauren attended the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law where she and her current partner, Warren Edson, joined forces to participate in the drafting and passage of Colorado’s Amendment 20. From 1999 until 2002, Lauren practiced law throughout the State of Colorado as a Deputy State Public Defender. After trying over thirty criminal cases in four and a half years with the Colorado State Public Defenders Office, Lauren moved to New York City for a short time delving into complex, mass tort litigation, which focused on illnesses caused by pharmaceuticals and asbestos. Lauren Maytin moved to Aspen to open the Colorado Office of Weitz & Luxenberg, PC. In 2006, The Law Office of Lauren R. Maytin began taking criminal cases and in 2011, Warren Edson and Lauren Maytin united, creating The Law Offices of Edson & Maytin, with offices in Denver and Aspen. Lauren is a lifetime member of NORML, is on the Board of Directors for Colorado NORML and was the John Flowers Mark NORML Scholarship winner in 2001. Lauren has committed her life to helping those in need of medical and recreation marijuana business and regulatory representation, those accused of a crime, people in need of an attorney well versed in the US and Colorado Constitutions, Federal and State Laws and Municipal Rules, Regulations and Ordinances.
Sean McAllister
Sean T. McAllister is an attorney specializing in the regulatory, health care, business, and religious freedom aspects of psychedelic medicines and therapies, including ketamine. His work in psychedelics has included: Advising doctors, therapists and licensed professional on psychedelic assisted therapy, including defense of licensure in disciplinary proceedings; Advising clients looking to obtain a religious exemption for the use of psychedelics; Drafter of Colorado’s Proposition 122 Natural Medicine Health Act; Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel; General Counsel for the Zendo Project; Board of Directors for the Chacruna Institute; and Board of Directors of the Board of Psychedelic Medicine and Therapies. Sean is licensed to practice law in Colorado and California.
Gregory Morse
Gregory J. Morse is a partner at the law firm of King | Morse, PLLC in Palm Beach County, FL where he has practiced criminal defense in state and federal court for more than twenty years. Greg began his career at the West Palm Beach Public Defender’s Office in 2000 and he is currently on the CJA panel for the United States Southern District of Florida. He is a lifetime member of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) Legal Committee and Amicus committee, The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and The American Inns of Court.
Greg has had cases featured on: Vengeance: Millionaire Murderers, 48 Hours, Inside Edition, American Monster, and In Ice Cold Blood. He is considered a Top 100 trial lawyer by the National Trial Lawyers and a 10 Best Attorney in FL by the American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys. He has been published in the New York Law School Law Review: Techno-Jury: Techniques in Verbal and Visual Persuasion. He graduated from New York Law School, cum laude; SUNY Buffalo; and University of North London, England. Greg has presented on topics covering all aspects of trial from Jury selection to sentencing. Greg is also an author and released his debut novel, The Untested, in 2022.
William H. Murphy, Jr.
William H. “Billy” Murphy, Jr. has practiced law for 35 years, including three years as a judge on the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, the highest level Maryland trial court. Mr. Murphy has tried numerous high-profile criminal and civil cases, including some of the most celebrated cases in Maryland history and in the country. In 2004, Mr. Murphy received the Charles Hamilton Houston Award for Lifetime Achievement in Litigation from the University of Baltimore School of Law in “recognition of his career of excellence, innovation and achievement in courtroom advocacy.”
Michelle Peace, Ph.D.
Dr. Peace received her B.A. in Chemistry from Wittenberg University, a Master of Forensic Science from George Washington University, and her Ph.D. from the Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
Dr. Peace is a forensic toxicologist and a Full Professor in the FEPAC-accredited Department of Forensic Science at VCU and is one of the founding faculty for the Department. She served as Associate Chair and Chair for nearly a decade. Dr. Peace has also served as a manager in a private forensic drug testing laboratory and has worked as a scientist for Procter & Gamble, where she holds 3 patents.
Dr. Peace has been funded by the National Institute of Justice since 2014 to study the efficacy of electronic cigarettes, particularly as they pertain to substance use and abuse. Her research has highlighted emerging issues of electronic cigarettes as a tool for vaping drugs other than nicotine and has characterized the merging of the cannabis and e-cigarette industries. Her current project is a clinical study to assess the impact of vaping on roadside impairment evaluations for suspected DUI and drug testing.
Dr. Peace is a Past President of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists and is a member of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists and is a Fellow in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. She is a member of the National Safety Council’s Alcohol, Drugs, and Impaired Driving Division. She has also served on the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Toxicology (SWGTOX) to help develop standards in the practice of forensic toxicology. She was nationally recognized for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring by the Society of Forensic Toxicologists.
Dr. Peace speaks regularly to train law enforcement and probation/parole officers, addiction specialists, attorneys, health system personnel, and primary and secondary education administrators on relevant issues regarding the mechanism of vaping and e-cigarettes as a tool to deliver drugs other than nicotine, as well as the effects of CBD and THC. She has provided testimony and opinions to develop scientifically relevant and robust policy and legislation at the state and federal levels, and she consults with companies and school systems as they re-develop smoking policies to include vaping. Dr. Peace has testified to the Food and Drug Administration and the Virginia General Assembly regarding issues of quality assurance, public health, and public safety with the emerging cannabis industry. She has been featured in the New York Times, Consumer Reports, and AARP. The American Chemical Society and Discover Magazine recognized her and her team in 2018 and 2019 as some of the most influential research in the nation.
Jeri Shepherd
Jeri Shepherd is a criminal defense attorney in Greeley, CO. Jeri served as the Deputy State Public Defender for Pueblo, CO and Greeley, CO. She has tried cases in over 100 jury trials, drafted motions, argued law and facts in motions hearings, prepared motions and trials, and handled appeals.
Jeri has lobbied state and federal legislators, has been actively involved in political campaigns and initiatives, and has been a legal observer, including during the Democratic National Convention.
Jeri has served on the Board of Directors for the following organizations: Colorado Rural Legal Services, Lambda Community Center (2000-2006), Sensible Colorado, Right to Read (2011-2015), and currently serves on Session, the governing board of Family of Christ Presbyterian Church in Greeley.
Jeri was co-recipient of Lowrey Kelley Memorial Boot Camp Award in 1985 and recipient of the Street Team Award from Sensible Colorado for volunteer petition circulation for Amendment 64.
Keith Stroup
Keith Stroup is a Washington, DC public-interest attorney who founded NORML in 1970. Stroup obtained his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Illinois in 1965, and in 1968 he graduated from Georgetown Law School in Washington, DC. Following two years as staff counsel for the National Commission on Product Safety, Mr. Stroup founded NORML and ran the organization through 1979, during which 11 states decriminalized minor marijuana offenses.
Stroup has also practiced criminal law, lobbied on Capitol Hill for family farmers and artists, and for several years served as executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). In 1994 Stroup resumed his work with NORML, rejoining the board of directors and serving again as Executive Director through 2004. He is currently serving as Legal Counsel with NORML.
In 1992 Stroup was the recipient of the Richard J. Dennis Drugpeace Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Drug Policy Reform presented by the Drug Policy Foundation, Washington, DC. In 2010 he received the Al Horn Award for Advancing the Cause of Justice from the NORML Legal Committee. And in 2012 Stroup received the High Times Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2013 Stroup published the history of NORML entitled It’s NORML To Smoke Pot: the 40 Year Fight for Marijuana Smokers’ Rights.
Jana Weltzin
Jana D. Weltzin is the owner of JDW Counsel – a boutique law firm based in Anchorage, Alaska, that represents over 250 small to mid-size companies in Alaska and Arizona. Jana has been immersed with corporate law, start-ups, money raises, employment law matters, regulation and compliance, and land use permitting since early 2013. Jana is licensed in Arizona and Alaska and obtained her J.D. from Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, with a specialization in Federal Indian Law. Jana’s practice focuses on marijuana law and policy, liquor licensing, land use, and transactional work. She is the expert in the Alaska marijuana licensed industry and co-chairs the State of Alaska Governor’s Advisory Task Force on marijuana policy. She is also a founding board member of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association. Between Alaska and Arizona, Jana represents over 150 direct touch marijuana companies. Jana was recognized as a 2017 Marijuana Venture Rising Stars of Cannabis, 40 under 40, and has contributed to multiple publications. Jana has been quoted in numerous media outlets, including Rolling Stones, Leaders in Law, Alaska Public Media, MSN, ABC News, Marijuana Business Daily, and others. Jana continues to expand the firm through strategic alliances and political relationships.
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