January 5, 2021 – As cannabis quickly becomes normalized in our community, local, state, federal and international approaches to cannabis farming are shifting, often in exciting and dramatic ways. Heather will be presenting on the current laws affecting cannabis farming, such as regional branding and cannabis appellations, the Williamson Act and Right to Farm ordinances, and the importance of the United Nations recent vote to remove cannabis from the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. The presentation will also discuss alternative cultivation methods such as “organic” or “regenerative.” Although many of the legal principles apply to cannabis activity generally, Heather’s presentation will focus on the intersection between cannabis cultivation and traditional agriculture.

Open to attorneys and the public. To enroll, please call 530-362-5329 or email Law.Library@nccourt.net. Please send check for $15, payable to Nevada County Law Library, and send to 201 Church Street, #9, Nevada City, California 95959. Once we receive your check, we will confirm your registration and provide you with the Zoom link. As the Law Library is now alternating monthly seminars with the Nevada County Bar Association, we will no longer offer MCLE credit to attorneys. Only seminars presented by the Bar Association would offer MCLE (https://nevadacountybar.com).

About Heather Burke

Heather is a Partner of Origin Group Law LLP in Nevada City, where her practice focuses on legal issues affecting northern California cultivators. She co-founded The OG Law and Collaboration Center in Nevada City, California, a community collaboration center designed to support cannabis farmers throughout northern California.

Graduating from Humboldt State University in 2005, Heather has consistently set new legal precedent in California cannabis law. She was instrumental in the seminal California cannabis case, People v. Jovan Jackson, which established the rule that large-scale collectives and cooperatives may operate lawfully in California. She also co-drafted a proposed initiative for California cannabis legalization in 2016, entitled The California Craft Cannabis Initiative, and drafted the legal pleadings that resulted in a five-day evidentiary hearing regarding cannabis’ Schedule I status in U.S. v. Pickard in the United States District Court, Eastern District of California.

In November of 2018, Heather was featured in MG Retailer’s article, “30 Powerful Cannabis Attorneys You Should Know.” In 2015, she was awarded NORML’s John Mark Flowers Scholar and was named one of Skunk Magazine’s Women of Weed. In 2017, the Nevada County Cannabis Cup named Heather “Attorney of the Year.” In addition to her vibrant law practice in the Sierra Nevada, Heather is a regular speaker and panelist at cannabis conferences throughout California. She pens a popular blog about legal issues affecting cannabis growers.

Noon Time Legal Seminar (via Zoom), Tuesday, February 16, 2021
12:00-1:00 p.m. — $15 Registration Fee
Nevada County Superior Court, Law Library, 201 Church Street, Nevada City
Hot Topics in California Cannabis Agriculture
Presented by Heather Burke, Attorney