A prominent law firm in Arkansas’ medical marijuana industry hit back last week at a former partner and other dispensary owners who accused the firm of fraud and malpractice as the state’s cannabis industry blossomed.
The Little Rock firm of Steel, Wright, Gray was sued last month in Pope and St. Francis counties over fraud and legal malpractice claims regarding the creation of ownership groups in the lucrative cannabis dispensary business.
Steel, Wright, Gray has responded to both lawsuits filed by dispensary groups, and late last week filed a defamation suit of its own against Marshall Wright, a former law partner and state legislator, and Scott Pace, a lobbyist and the former CEO of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association.
Pace and Wright are members of the Enlightened Dispensary groups that filed the explosive lawsuits against Nate Steel, also a former lawmaker, and Alex Gray.
That litigation accused Wright and Gray of manufacturing phantom local ownership groups to obtain four of the state’s first 32 medical cannabis dispensary licenses in 2019.
Lawsuit accuses Arkansas law firm of misconduct in early days of medical marijuana
The local “owners” of two of those dispensaries — Enlightened Dispensary locations in Heber Springs and Morrilton — say they had little control over the businesses, which are instead controlled by out-of-state management companies. Further, they say they received little to no income from Enlightened while taking on hundreds of…
