NORML’s 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.
Erik Altieri
Erik Altieri is the Executive Director of NORML. Previously, he was NORML’s Communications Director and ran the federal and state lobbying efforts and legislative outreach, administered NORML’s social media networks and served as a spokesperson to the press from 2007-2015. During this time period he was also the manager of the NORML PAC, and worked to elect marijuana reform-friendly candidates at all levels of government. In 2015, he left NORML to explore other political issue activism, including campaign finance reform and tax policy. He returned to NORML as executive director in 2016. He is the youngest person named executive director in the organization’s history, an accomplishment recognized by Forbes Magazine when he was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for Law and Policy in 2017. Mr. Altieri is currently based in Washington, DC at NORML’s national headquarters.
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 is a partner with the Firm and Co-Chair of the Litigation Department, head of the Cannabis Law Practice Group, and a member of the Community Association Law and Bankruptcy practice groups. His areas of concentration include complex commercial, class action, bankruptcy-related, and securities litigation, including: enforcing commercial lease agreements, guaranties, purchase and sale contracts, and commission agreements; litigating partnership disputes; defending against class-actions arising from alleged violations of consumer protection and related statutes; litigating claims arising from bad faith denial of insurance coverage; and defending against commercial foreclosure actions.
Mr. Bauchner also represents condominium and cooperative boards of management, is a licensed Real Estate Instructor in the State of New York, and teaches a course for Real Estate Sales Professionals.
He also has taught as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School and was appointed by the Manhattan Borough President to serve on Manhattan Community Board 10 where he was Treasurer of the Board and Co-Chair of the Committee on Land Use. He also is President of the Wheaton College Alumni Association and serves on the College’s Board of Trustees. He also serves on the Boards of the New York Theater Ballet, Frederick Douglass Boulevard Alliance, and Harlem Wellness Center.
Immediately prior to joining the Firm, he was Deputy Director of the Legal Division at the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs and previously worked at a national litigation firm.
Mr. Bauchner received his B.A., cum laude, from Wheaton College and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School. Following graduation from law school, Mr. Bauchner served as law clerk to the Honorable Ursula Ungaro in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Hilary Bricken
Hilary Bricken is a partner at Harris Bricken in its Los Angeles office. Licensed in California, Washington, and Florida, she is one of the premier cannabis business and regulatory attorneys in the United States. As chair of Harris Bricken’s Regulated Substances practice group, Hilary helps cannabis companies of all sizes with their legal issues.
Every year since 2014, Hilary has been named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers Magazine, and in 2022 Hilary was named as a Top 50 Up and Coming Woman Rising Star for Southern California. In 2015, the Puget Sound Business Journal selected Hilary for its Top 40 Under 40 list for business and leadership, and in 2017 the American Bar Association named her a Top 40 Under 40 “On the Rise” attorney in the United States. In 2018, Hilary was honored by National Law Journal as a “Cannabis Law Trailblazer.” In addition, Hilary was a columnist for Above the Law from 2015 until 2019 where she featured content on cannabis policy and regulation. Hilary is a regular contributor to and editor of her firm’s Canna Law Blog.
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).
Sheriff Joe DiSalvo
Joe DiSalvo is the sheriff of Pitkin County, CO. He began his law enforcement career with the Aspen Police Department in 1985 as a patrol officer. Two and a half years later, he became a patrol officer with the sheriff’s department, was promoted to investigator, then lead investigator, and eventually undersheriff in January 2006. He was elected sheriff in 2010. DiSalvo has an understanding of what the community wants from its public safety officers. He promises to never forget that he was elected to serve each resident and visitor to Pitkin County. He is opposed to the war on drugs, contending addiction should be treated as a health issue, not a crime. In 2018 he was recognized by Pitkin County commissioners for “meritorious dedication and outstanding community service to Pitkin County’s veteran’s foundations,” for raising tens of thousands of dollars for a local nonprofit that aids veterans.
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 presentor 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 Associstion. 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 Etuquette. 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 ColoradoNORML 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 lead 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.
Rachel Gillette
Rachel Gillette is a leading cannabis-focused lawyer who helps clients nationwide proactively plan and implement strategies to capitalize on strategic business opportunities.
At the vanguard of the marijuana industry, Rachel leverages more than a decade of experience guiding clients to establish, expand, and protect profitable businesses in a rapidly-evolving legal, regulatory, and financial environment.
From years of interacting with regulators and taxing authorities Rachel knows how state and local provisions will be applied in practice and what clients can anticipate at every step of the licensing process and beyond. She vigorously protects clients’ interests in tax audits and deficiency assessments at the state and local level, as well as IRC §280E adjustments.
Clients value Rachel’s ability to distill complex, often overwhelming information, into a prioritized plan of action. As a strategic advisor, she helps clients prepare and get positioned to seize opportunities, like starting operations in newly legalized states, scale businesses into multiple jurisdictions, or launch new brands and products.
Rachel’s clients range from individual entrepreneurs and investors, to start-ups to publicly traded companies with operations in one or multiple states in cannabis and cannabis-adjacent businesses. Domestic and international entities exploring cannabis business opportunities turn to Rachel for pragmatic, industry-savvy counsel as they evaluate potential options. Rachel also serves as an expert witness on legal and regulatory issues involving hemp, marijuana, CBD, and other cannabinoids.
Before she joined Holland & Hart, Rachel was a partner at Greenspoon Marder, serving as Chair of the firm’s Cannabis Law practice and as a member of the Management Committee.
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.
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.
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.
Gregory Morse
Greg Morse is a partner at the law firm of Morse & Morse in Palm Beach, FL where he has practiced criminal defense for the past twenty-two years. 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); S.U.N.Y. Buffalo; and University of N. London, England. Greg has presented on topics covering all aspects of trial from Jury selection to sentencing. Greg is also an author. His novel, THE UNTESTED, won second place in the 2021 Best Fiction Writer contest by the Palm Beach Book Festival. In his spare time, Greg loves to ski.
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.”
Nabil Rodriguez
Nabil Rodriguez assists clients with the complex regulatory and operational challenges of conducting business involving cannabis, hemp, and CBD.
Nabil helps clients navigate the ever-evolving patchwork of state, local, and federal requirements to start, maintain, and expand business operations across the nation. A passionate advocate for cannabis, Nabil has established connections and relationships with a range of industry stakeholders that he uses to assist clients in identifying, preparing for, and capitalizing on strategic business opportunities.
Nabil works with growers, operators, and distributors of marijuana as well as companies developing CBD-infused food and beverage and natural products.
Before joining Holland & Hart, Nabil practiced cannabis law as an associate at Greenspoon Marder LLP. He founded the first student National Cannabis Bar Association.
Laurie Schmidt
Laurie Schmidt is the principal attorney at 5280 Law Group. Her practice includes both criminal defense and family law. 5280 Law Group has engaged in education and advocacy through the court system for responsible cannabis use for parents and those facing criminal and/or family law issues. Ms. Schmidt has achieved a wealth of experience in litigation, including civil defense and serving as Deputy District Attorney for the County of Riverside, California. In 2012, Ms. Schmidt made the decision to break apart from the prosecution office and open her doors to private practice and in 2013, she moved her practice to Denver.
Ms. Schmidt received her Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Whittier College School of Law in 2006. She is a lawyer admitted to both the California State Bar (2007) (inactive status by choice) and Colorado State Bar (2012). Ms. Schmidt is a member of the Colorado Bar Association, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Colorado Criminal Defenses Bar, Colorado Women’s Bar Association, and Colorado Bar Association Family Law Section.
Ms. Schmidt has been published in Earthjustice for her analysis of the environmental impact oil pipelines have on indigenous persons in South America. She has given presentations on topics such as: mental health in the criminal justice system; how to defend against expert testimony; and misdemeanor reform. Ms. Schmidt has received numerous awards from prestigious law sites such as AVVO, LAW Q&A, and was nominated a rising star in Super Lawyers. Ms. Schmidt currently sits on the committee for the Clean Slate Initiative. She served on the Colorado Supreme Court Well-Being Recognition Program for Legal Employers- Pilot Program. In her free time, Ms. Schmidt enjoys skiing, hiking, and spending time with friends and family.
Joshua Treem
Joshua Treem represents individual and corporate clients in a broad spectrum of legal matters. He appears frequently in state and federal courts across Maryland and neighboring jurisdictions in cases involving every facet of criminal investigations and prosecutions. He is particularly well known for his aggressive representation of individuals, including public officials, lobbyists, and high-level state administrators, as well as businesses, in state and federal criminal investigations and grand jury proceedings.
Joshua was selected the Lawyer of the Year for General Practice Criminal Defense in 2020 and 2018, and the Lawyer of the Year for Criminal Defense: Non-White-Collar in the Baltimore in area in 2016 by Best Lawyers in America. He has been recognized by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America in the General Practice Criminal Defense, White-Collar Criminal Defense, and Civil Rights Law areas; and has been chosen annually by his peers to the Maryland Super Lawyers.
Joshua has extensive experience representing clients accused by the government of fraud, handled numerous cases involving controlled substances and related issues, and successfully represented college students in campus disciplinary proceedings over charges of sexual misconduct. He also devotes substantial time to pro bono matters relating to important criminal and constitutional law issues.
Joshua began his legal career by participating in the United States Attorney General’s Honors Program, then serving as an attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and as an Assistant United States Attorney in Baltimore from 1973 to 1978. He has served as lecturer at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) and the National Business Institute, and he serves on the CJA-Felony Panel, a federal court committee that administers the Criminal Justice Act in Maryland, appointing counsel to indigent defendants.
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