Hinman & Carmichael LLP is pleased to announce that Erin Kelleher has been promoted to Partner, and we have added two experienced attorneys to the team: Gillian Garrett and Tsion “Sunshine” Lencho.
Ms. Kelleher began her tenure with the firm in 2014. She is a seasoned corporate lawyer with a specialty in advising buyers and sellers on transactions involving alcohol beverage and cannabis licensees. Erin works extensively with outside counsel, providing regulatory advice in concert with clients’ corporate attorneys to inform business practices, relationships and potential transactions. Additionally, Erin has extensive knowledge of the laws related to the sale, distribution and marketing of alcoholic beverages, the federal and state tied-house laws, and deep expertise with the ABC qualification requirements applicable to investors in alcohol beverage licensees. Erin has leveraged her transactional and licensing experience for the cannabis industry, providing investors and operators with practical structuring advice and risk analysis in a rapidly changing regulatory environment. Erin has participated as a guest lecturer at Sonoma State University on wine regulatory topics and is an active member of numerous trade associations. She provides pro bono legal services to the industry, representing Stern Grove and the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers, among others.
Erin was previously an associate in the corporate group of Latham & Watkins LLP and Morrison & Foerster LLP. She is licensed to practice in California and New York and is a graduate of Northwestern University School of law.
“Erin’s significant experience in both the alcohol and cannabis practice groups adds tremendous value to our clients’ businesses. She provides creative, business-friendly solutions for complex licensing projects that allows us to offer more sophisticated legal advice in these regulated industries. We can’t wait to see what she does in the years to come,” said Partner Rebecca Stamey-White.
Ms. Garrett, as Senior Counsel, will lead Hinman & Carmichael’s regulatory and distribution litigation practice, under the direction of Founding Partner John Hinman.
Gillian, a graduate of Pomona College and UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) comes to us most recently from five plus years as a Litigation Associate at Jones Day LLP, a two-year secondment managing in house litigation at Mattel, and 6 years as a Litigation Associate at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP.
Firm founder John Hinman stated: “We are very excited to welcome Gillian as the new leader of our core regulatory litigation defense team. She is as tough and experienced as they come, and her extensive litigation and trial experience will enable us to take on more of the cutting-edge cases in alcohol regulation, distribution litigation and arbitration that are coming to us from throughout the US.”
Tsion “Sunshine” Lencho, as Senior Associate, joins Hinman & Carmichael’s thriving Cannabis and Alcohol practice groups.
Sunshine is a graduate of Stanford Law School and seasoned cannabis law advisor assisting companies, lawmakers and consumers in navigating the complex regulatory environment of medicinal and adult-use cannabis globally. Formerly corporate counsel at Privateer Holdings, Sunshine supported portfolio companies and brands including Leafly, Tilray, Marley Natural, and Goodship. As a trademark associate at Morrison & Foerster LLP, Sunshine honed her skills for due diligence, oral advocacy and document drafting working for Fortune 500 companies in the entertainment, food production, and technology sectors prior to joining the cannabis industry. She is co-founder and former Board Chair of Supernova Women, an organization holding space for women of color in cannabis. A committed citizen, she previously served as Mayor Libby Schaaf’s appointee to the Oakland Cannabis Regulatory Commission, received a commendation from San Francisco Supervisor Malia Cohen in 2017 for her service to San Francisco’s African American community, served on the Board of Directors and as the Interim SF/Oakland Chapter Director of the California Growers Association. Sunshine has been a featured lecturer and speaker at Stanford Law School, Stanford Graduate School of Business and many cannabis conferences, in addition to being featured in The Root, Black Enterprise, The Establishment, Vice, Politico, NPR, The Guardian, Forbes, and Culture Magazine.
Rebecca Stamey-White stated: “We are all thrilled to welcome Sunshine to our team. She provides depth and experience to our rapidly growing portfolio of clients in the cannabis industry, and to our core clients in the alcohol industry. We expect the two fields will overlap in significant ways in the years to come and Sunshine will be there with us to shepherd the new industries into profitability, inclusion and stability.”
About Hinman & Carmichael LLP
Hinman & Carmichael specializes in the laws related to the licensing, production, marketing, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages and cannabis. The firm advises its clients on licensing and qualification strategy, and all aspects of the sale, distribution and marketing of cannabis products and alcoholic beverages. Additionally, the firm represents clients before federal and state agencies involving investigations, audits and enforcement actions against alcohol and cannabis licensees.
Hinman & Carmichael attorneys are well-versed in the statutes, rules and policies that apply to alcoholic beverage business operations in all fifty states, and in states where cannabis has been newly regulated. The firm keeps its clients up to date with significant legal developments affecting the alcoholic beverage and cannabis industries and works with legislators and industry members to improve laws enacted in the regulatory space.
For more information, please contact:
Tresenia Griffin, Executive Director, Hinman & Carmichael LLP | 415.362.1215 ext. 111 tgriffin@beveragelaw.com | www.beveragelaw.com