Hoban law firm, arguably the country’s most successful SME cannabis law firm with a wide-reaching network of attorneys in the US and beyond has made the step into big law by announcing their integration with top 100 giant Clark Hill.
In the National Law Journal’s 2021 NLJ 500 ranking of firms based on size, Detroit based Clark Hill currently has 591 attorneys and is ranked 82nd in the United States with an estimated $308,887,000 gross revenue in 2020. The firm also placed just outside the top 100 at 109 in The American Lawyer’s 2021 Am Law 200 ranking.
Bob Hoban
As of today founder Bob Hoban will co-head up Clark Hill’s cannabis practice with Sander C. Zagzebski operating out of the Los Angeles office.
Sander C. Zagzebski
Cannabis Law Report spoke with Bob Hoban to get the lowdown on who, what where and how, and first of all why.
The provision of legal services to the nascent cannabis (hemp and marijuana) industry has become increasingly competitive over the past several years, with numerous industry-specific rankings, and the like.
HLG has consistently ranked in the top ten of those rankings and is regularly recognized as a leader in providing legal services to the industry. However, the market is changing very fast and changes are required to continue to compete.
We asked Bob why the marriage with Clark Hill after speaking to a number of national and international firms?
As I have written extensively, 2021 is the year of cannabis industry consolidation. As a result, HLG either needed to continue to grow extremely rapidly in order to add more lawyers with broader experience, or it needed to acquire those lawyers in another manner; the former would take far too many years. HLG does not have that luxury. With the likelihood of passage of the ‘Banking Bill’ and the likely (subsequent) federal legalization of cannabis during the Biden Administration, HLG only has a 2-3 year window to maximize its position in this pace.
In short, HLG could not afford to wait that long, or it would risk being left behind. Integration into Clark Hill immediately provides HLG with hundreds of very experienced lawyers from numerous jurisdictions to service our clients.
More importantly, because so many people in the cannabis industry follow our lead, this is a great example of HLG ‘leading by example,’ and recognizing and executing on the business trends in the industry that we serve.
He indicated that on a number of fronts their approach as well as desire to be the top US and international cannabis practice utilizing Clark Hill’s existing infrastructure, existing cannabis practitioners, and national, international footprint.
Clark Hill’s DNA consists of these guiding principles
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Count On More. The firm provides practical counsel with an entrepreneurial spirit, offering innovative ideas, technologies, and solutions. It delivers value through high-quality work and a collaborative team approach
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Relationships Fuel The Firm. Respect is the foundation of Clark Hill’s strong relationships with clients and colleagues. The firm is tenacious advocates for its clients while being approachable and supportive
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Everyone Matters. The firm values the contributions of each individual in the firm and encourages fresh ideas and diverse perspectives. Clark Hill embraces the differences among its colleagues, enriching the firm’s experiences
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Ethical Behavior is Non-Negotiable. Clark Hill believes in doing the right thing every time. The firm upholds its professional responsibilities and are accountable for its actions
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It’s Not Just About Clark Hill. Making a positive impact is central to who the firm is. Clark Hill devotes its personal and collective time, talent, and resources to making communities better places to live and work
The firm already has excellent cannabis, healthcare, banking and corp divisions and a desire on Clark Hill’s part to create a cannabis practice group with around 50 experts who can apply their contacts and skills to an industry sector that is getting ever closer to entering the US business mainstream.
Recent murmurings from the likes and Amazon and even Apple have confirmed that the major corporates and tech are ready to move into the sector once Washington DC starts to lift restrictions on banking issues.
Although not charging headfirst into change, the Biden administration has indicated that the desire to move forward the issue of federal cannabis legislation is there and it is time for national US cannabis practices with an international focus to start preparing for these changes.
Plans
About half the Hoban Of Counsel team will be joining the Clark Hill practice and although the cannabis practice will, as mentioned, be headquartered out of Denver it will also have legal experts available in their other offices throughout the country.
It is, though, their plans for an international presence that will step the new practice into a spot where few firms have gone; with a strong growth strategy for Mexico and also the EU based out of their office located in Dublin.
The aim, Hoban says, is to create a multi-disciplinary approach with a strong focus on thought leadership and knowledge. He notes in our conversation that although some smaller firms may have built a knowledge environment in the main it has been state-based and with the support of Clark Hill’s respected marketing team he can provide a global perspective to the sector that nobody in the legal sector has yet been able to achieve with any authority.
Hoban is looking at a build-out that may take a couple of years to get the practice to where he wants it to be but knows that Clark Hill’s structure, professionalism, and desire to be the world leader in cannabis law can take what Hoban has already managed over the last decade to the next stage.
Here at CLR we look forward to following the development of the world’s first global cannabis practice, let’s hope that the legislators can keep up.
Here’s The Official Press Release
Clark Hill Expands Cannabis Industry Group with Addition of Hoban Law Group
and Opens Denver Office
For more information, contact Jamie Moss, newsPRos, PR Counsel, 201-493-1027; Jamie@newspros.com
July 8, 2021, DENVER – International law firm Clark Hill PLC today announced that the firm has expanded its Cannabis Industry Group with the addition of eight attorneys and a team of paralegals and support staff from Denver-based, leading cannabis law firm, Hoban Law Group (HLG), including president and founder Robert Hoban who joins Clark Hill as a Member, Member-in-Charge of Clark Hill’s new Denver Office, and the Co-Leader of its Cannabis Industry Group. The team will reside in the firm’s new Denver office, formerly the offices of HLG. The addition of this office brings Clark Hill’s global footprint to 26 offices.
“The cannabis industry is an area of strategic focus for Clark Hill and HLG is globally recognized as one of the top cannabis law firms,” said John Hensien, CEO of Clark Hill. “The team’s depth of experience in helping cannabis-related businesses navigate the regulatory, transactional and litigation landscape will provide a deeper bench for Clark Hill’s Cannabis Industry Group, and the team will also be a tremendous asset to our clients across the board in other areas of practice.”
The cannabis industry is becoming increasingly complex as the needle moves closer and closer to federal legalization. Over the last 12 months, there has been a flurry of mergers and acquisitions in the cannabis sector, and as the industry consolidates, a sign of maturation, operators will demand increasingly sophisticated legal and advisory services.
Since 2008, HLG has cultivated the world’s largest commercial cannabis industry network. The group, which has been widely recognized for its success crafting legal strategies and advising clients in the commercial cannabis industry, has merged into a 130+ year old Top 100 national law firm.
Over the past decade, HLG has served both the regulated marijuana industry and the industrial hemp industry in the United States and around the globe. Through this merger, and under the visionary leadership of Hoban and Zagzebski, Clark Hill’s Cannabis Industry Group is poised to be the nation’s leading cannabis law practice.
In March of 2021, Corporate attorney, Sander Zagzebski joined Clark Hill’s Cannabis team at the Los Angeles office. Zagzebski has broad experience as both a transactional and corporate/securities lawyer representing clients across a range of industries. Together, Hoban and Zagzebski will lead Clark Hill’s Cannabis Industry Group, which represents growers, processors, caregivers, transporters, lenders, investors, and other cannabis-industry clients on issues ranging from banking and finance, government relations and legislative advocacy, taxation, and business formation, investments, and governance issues.
They are both pioneers in the cannabis legal space who recognize what is on the horizon for the industry in the U.S. and abroad. Under their guidance, Clark Hill’s Cannabis Industry Group will be positioned to provide robust, multidisciplinary legal and advisory services to both the movers and shakers of the industry today, as well as enterprise organizations who have been waiting on the sidelines for federal reform but are now preparing for entrance.
“The cannabis industry is poised for sweeping changes and Clark Hill’s global, full-service capabilities will enable us to provide a more comprehensive lineup of services for both U.S. and international clients,” said Robert Hoban. With the anticipated passage of the ‘SAFE Banking Act’ followed by potential federal legalization of cannabis, the industry is moving at lightning speed, and Clark Hill stands alone in its ability to provide the experienced counsel and depth of legal resources necessary to deliver a higher level of service to an increasingly sophisticated and complex industry.”
Zagzebski commented, “The multibillion-dollar cannabis industry continues to rapidly evolve, and its leading players are relying on the experience of lawyers and law firms that both have a deep understanding of the business of cannabis and the history of the industry, as well as the depth of resources and skill sets of a large, multidisciplinary firm. The combination of the Hoban team with our existing group at Clark Hill will give us one of the leading industry practice groups in the country with an enviable balance of cutting- edge legal skills and cannabis business insight and know how, which we hope will give our clients an edge in the extremely competitive, rapidly evolving cannabis marketplace.”
Hoban has been an influential force behind U.S. and global cannabis policy development and has played a large part in the commercial success of the marijuana industry and the nascent hemp industry through his counsel, leadership, and mix of legal and business strategies over the past twelve plus years. Since the cannabis industry became commercialized, he has been widely credited with creating the class of lawyers now known as “cannabis attorneys.” He has been named a “Cannabis Law Trailblazer” by The National Law Journaland HLG’s practice was named one of the leading cannabis practices in the U.S. by Chambers USA 2021.
Hoban has earned a reputation as a cannabis industry dealmaker representing start-ups, entrepreneurs, and companies in all stages of development. He is regularly involved in assembling and structuring large scale cannabis industry M&A transactions, with a depth of experience in international cannabis transactions.
About Clark Hill
At Clark Hill, our value proposition is simple. We offer our clients an exceptional team, dedicated to the delivery of outstanding service. We recruit and develop talented individuals and empower them to contribute to our rich diversity of legal and industry experience. With 26 locations and more than 650 lawyers spanning the United States, Ireland, and Mexico, we work in agile, collaborative teams, partnering with our clients to help them reach and exceed their business goals. Please visit the firm’s website at http://www.clarkhill.com or follow the firm on Twitter @ClarkHillLaw.
Clark Hill. Simply Smarter.
