Alex J. Berger is a regulatory attorney who primarily serves the cannabis and hemp/CBD industries. His practice focuses on state and federal regulatory compliance and licensing in the medical and adult-use cannabis spaces as well as the industrial hemp/CBD industry. He represents a broad base of cannabis-related clients, including cultivators, processors, wholesalers, dispensaries, and ancillary businesses (e.g., software providers, equipment vendors, etc.). His clients range from smaller “mom and pop” businesses to larger private and public multistate and multinational operators.

Alex assists cannabis and hemp businesses who face a complicated and often confusing set of local, state, and federal laws and regulations, including the provision of advice and services regarding cannabis and hemp licensing, regulatory compliance, and food and drug regulations. He also assists cannabis and non-cannabis-related clients with various land use issues. His primary goal is to help clients successfully navigate the often vague, ambiguous, and uncertain path toward maintaining lawful, compliant, and successful cannabis-related businesses.

Alex has served on several state agency rules advisory committees and contributed to the National Cannabis Industry Association’s (NCIA) Public Comments Submission to FDA regarding Scientific Data and Information About Products Containing Cannabis or Cannabis-Derived Compounds. Alex also served on the NCIA Packaging and Labeling Committee and has spoken at several cannabis and hemp industry conferences around the country.

Prior to joining Emerge Law Group, Alex served as an associate attorney at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt in its general and commercial litigation groups. While in law school, he served on the Hastings Law Journal editorial staff, externed for the Honorable Edward M. Chen at the US District Court for the Northern District of California, and served as a Certified Law Clerk for the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office.

Activities

Professional Memberships

Cannabis and Psychedelics Law Section, Oregon State Bar, Advisory Committee Member

Agriculture Law Section, Oregon State Bar, Member

Real Estate & Land Use Section, Oregon State Bar, Member

Young Lawyer’s Division, Multnomah Bar Association, Member

Young Lawyer’s Division, American Bar Association, Member

Additional Activities

OLCC Industrial Hemp Rules Advisory Committee – August 18, 2017

OLCC Medical Sales Limits Work Group – September 19, 2018

OLCC Industrial Hemp Rules Advisory Committee – September 27, 2018

OLCC Cameras and Security Rules Advisory Committee – September 11, 2019

NCIA Packaging and Labeling Committee – 2017-2019

OLCC Rules Advisory Committee – Marijuana Streamlining Package – December 16, 2020

ODA Rules Advisory Committee – Hemp – October 25, 2021

Speaking Engagements

February 24, 2022
Portland, OR
Oregon Cannabis Association
Rule Making and Reality Event, Alex Berger

September 24, 2021
Webinar
Cannabis Law Institute
2021 State and Federal Hemp Updates

September 17, 2020
Webinar
NW AILA Immigration Conference
Legalized Cannabis

September 1, 2020
Portland, OR
Oregon State Bar, Cannabis Law Section
Cannabis Law Institute
USDA Interim Final Rule and What it Means for Hemp Clients

July 24, 2020
Webinar
International Cannabis Bar Association
INCBA Regulatory Rounds
USDA Interim Final Rule and What it Means for Hemp Clients

January 30, 2020
Portland, OR
Hemp CBD Connex Conference
Legal & Legislation: Not Every Hemp-Derived Path to Success Goes Through the FDA

October 12, 2019
Denver, CO
CBD Expo Mountain
It’s Legal, Or Is It? A Look At The Legalities of CBD

June 3, 2019
Alex Berger featured on Periodic Effects Podcast
Pe096 Guidance on Hemp CBD

April 18, 2019
Portland, OR
Emerge Law Group
CB-Dos and Dont’s

November 29, 2018
Eugene, OR
National Business Institute
Recreational Marijuana Business Law in Oregon, Alex Berger
Obtaining an Oregon Cannabis Business License, Alex Berger

November 28, 2018
Medford, OR
National Business Institute
Recreational Marijuana Business Law in Oregon, Alex Berger
Obtaining an Oregon Cannabis Business License, Alex Berger

Publications

The View from Oregon – Cannabis Law and Industry Updates, Oregon Business Lawyer, The Oregon State Bar Business Law Section Newsletter (June 2022).

NCIA “Public Comments Submission on Scientific Data and Information about Products Containing Cannabis or Cannabis-Derived Compounds (Docket FDA-2019-N-1482), contributing author (May 31, 2019)

Righting The Wrong of Publicity: A Novel Proposal for a Uniform Federal Right of Publicity Statute, Hastings Law Journal, volume 66, issue 3, 845-70 (April 2015)