Cannabis Law Firms Merge, Bridging the West Coast

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 1, 2018

Portland, OR and Sacramento, CA – February 1, 2018 – Emerge Law Group (“Emerge”), Oregon’s first full-service, boutique law firm specializing in the legal cannabis industry has merged with industry pioneer Greenbridge Corporate Counsel (“Greenbridge”), California’s premier cannabis-focused business law firm. For the immediate future, Emerge and Greenbridge will maintain their existing brands in the markets they serve (including Hawaii and Washington), but will otherwise operate as one law firm for the benefit of their current and future clients.

“We could not be more excited about joining forces with one of the most dynamic law firms in the cannabis field, and a powerhouse in California’s industry” said Marco Materazzi, Emerge’s managing shareholder. “The combination of our in-depth experience with Oregon’s two-year-old-plus adult-use cannabis industry and Greenbridge’s expertise and reputation in California’s medical and adult-use cannabis industry will create a wealth of knowledge, skill and experience to serve our clients as they navigate an ever-changing legal landscape and look to expand in other legal markets in the US and abroad.”

Emerge was founded on July 1, 2014 by a group of attorneys with backgrounds in the cannabis industry, as well as years of experience at prestigious business law firms. They had the idea to start a boutique firm that could bring experience in various legal sectors to an industry desperately in need of legal services – the cannabis industry. Over three years later, Emerge has grown into full-service law firm with specialties including business formation and transactions, intellectual property, litigation, employment, land use, real estate and tax. With many of its clients in the Northwest looking to expand into what promises to be the largest legal cannabis market in the world, Emerge is thrilled to be partnering with a nationally well-reputed and trusted boutique firm like Greenbridge with deep roots in the cannabis industry and drug policy reform community.

“Emerge has earned its reputation as the leading cannabis business law firm in Oregon, and one of the very best in the US for service and competence. Given our growing clientele in both California and the Pacific Northwest, it made perfect sense to combine our teams and leverage our talents together,” commented Khurshid Khoja, principal and founder of Greenbridge and stalwart cannabis industry advocate. Khoja has worked to found and/or lead multiple regional, state and national cannabis trade associations, and has had a pronounced impact on the crafting of California cannabis law, policy and regulations, especially as they relate to investor participation.

Greenbridge is a minority-owned and managed law firm founded by Khoja in 2012 to provide premium legal services to businesses and investors in the cannabis industry in California, Washington and Hawaii on regulatory, start‐up, corporate, intellectual property, finance, and other commercial and transactional matters.

Greenbridge attorneys have richly diverse backgrounds with decades of experience in advising clients on state and federal banking, corporate, finance and securities laws in highly-regulated industries, mergers and acquisitions, antitrust and unfair competition law, intellectual property, commercial contracts, and licensing and regulatory compliance. “This is a force multiplier for both firms. With such talented and service-oriented attorneys up and down the west coast, this merger gives us the unique opportunity to provide top-shelf legal services to the entire western US.”

Find Emerge and Greenbridge on social media:

Emerge
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emergelawgroup/
Twitter: @emergelawgroup
Instagram: @emergelawgroup
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emerge-law-group/

Greenbridge
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreenbridgeCorporateCounsel/
Twitter: @greenbridgelaw
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2638575/