From left, Jennifer Baez-Silva, Bruce Braverman, Nazayra Haque and David Welch
rush, but the burgeoning industry requires a wealth of expertise to navigate the legal
pitfalls created by the federal government's current stance on marijuana.
D|R Welch Attorneys at Law have spent the last eight years discerning the legal complexities
of the marijuana industry from large corporations that want to invest to growers,
dispensaries and allied businesses. Some of the firm's clients include hedge funds,
real estate developers and physicians.
David Welch founded D|R Welch Attorneys at Law at a time when very little case law
existed on medical marijuana collectives in California. His passion for the subject
however started years earlier while working on a criminal defense case involving marijuana.
From the beginning, he saw a new area of practice.
"I researched other attorneys and I found that other attorney's practices were small
in focus," Welch said. "I saw where the industry could be."
His first big case began in 2009 as a lawsuit against the city of Lake Forest over
the banning of marijuana dispensaries. That case went all the way to the Supreme Court
in 2013 where it was decided that cities can, in fact, regulate dispensaries.
D|R Welch also helps clients navigate local laws regarding medical marijuana such
as having a thorough understand of the 1996 Compassionate Use Act and the 2004 Medical
Program Act. Currently, David Welch and Bruce Braverman are working with a group of
private investors to draft a medical marijuana ordinance in accordance with federal
law enforcement priorities as stated in the Wilkinson Memorandum 2014 entitled "Policy
Statement Regarding Marijuana Issues in Indian Country."
"Because of the years of experience we have representing medical marijuana clients,"
Welch said. "We are aware of how the government views laws that will affect our clients."
In November of last year, D|R Welch provided assistance to the city of Santa Ana with
its council-authored medical marijuana law, for which, the city has already begun
issuing permits.
"When you look at the ethics of this, the attorney has to stay abreast of not just
state law but federal law and the federal government's views on the law."
As medical marijuana becomes more normalized in the United States, Welch believes
the next frontier of the practice will involve resolving trademark disputes. The firm
is currently working with House of Dank to develop and protect intellectual properties
for their brand across multiple platforms such as fashion, entertainment, music and
social media.
"We are focusing on intellectual property because we know the value is not just in
the marijuana, but in the names of their business and the names of the marijuana that
they are growing," Welch said.
He believes firmly that medical marijuana will become normalized in the United States,
and that D|R Welch will continue to grow with the medical marijuana industry.
"There's a saying that all boats rise with the tides," he said. "We see ourselves
growing along with our clients."
-RYAN VAN VELZER
#261329
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