PORTLAND — Dentons Bingham Greenebaum announced that Hannah King has joined the firm as a partner in its Cannabis Law, Litigation and Corporate practice groups. King, who is based in Portland, is one of Maine’s leading authorities on the highly regulated and complicated cannabis industry. She brings extensive experience advising hundreds of cannabis businesses to her practice at Dentons.
King’s growing national practice includes advising hundreds of cannabis clients from small family-run businesses to large publicly traded, multi-state operators in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. She represents a wide array of business types including standalone medical and adult use hydro-carbon, distillate, and CO2 extraction facilities, infused edibles and beverage producers, cultivators, retailers, testing labs, as well as vertically integrated operators. She also represents investors, landlords, and ancillary businesses, including financial institutions.
King also works on local and state licensing and permitting and regulatory compliance as well as assisting cannabis businesses in navigating the cannabis laws in complicated commercial and financial transactions and litigation.
“Few industries in the United States present more complex legal issues than cannabis. It’s critical for the viability of any cannabis business to have a legal team capable of advising on this evolving and complex area of law. Hannah understands how to navigate the intricate legal challenges in this space. Her experience will be particularly valuable to our substantial and growing practice in the area of cannabis law,” said Eric Berlin, Partner and Global Cannabis Law Practice Group Leader at Dentons. The Cannabis Law Practice Group at Dentons is nationally recognized for its work in the cannabis sector, having been named Cannabis Practice Group of the Year in 2021 by Law360, as a top tier firm by the Legal 500 and as a tier 2 firm by Chambers. Dentons was also selected as one of MGO’s “Cannabis 50” in the publication’s Cannabis Impact Review. MGO recognizes the most inspiring, impactful and innovative figures and entities in the cannabis industry.
King describes the transition to Dentons as a career move that is highly valuable to both her own practice and to her clients. “I have already met new law partners from around the world – Germany, South Africa, Netherlands, Canada – and across the country who are doing sophisticated legal work in the cannabis space. Access to the talent within the Dentons platform is an incredible next step for my practice and a value add for my clients,” King said.
Dentons Bingham Greenebaum Managing Partner Keith Bice explained the growth strategy, which is focused on talent. “An essential part of our firm’s new business model is lateral talent in secondary markets. By combining the Dentons’ technology platform and global reach with the exceptional talent of attorneys like Hannah, we have a unique and powerful ‘in-and-of-the-community’ approach that gives our clients access to top-tier legal talent across the US and around the world,” he said. The Dentons global brand employs 20,000 people and 12,000 lawyers in 200 locations.
Since 2016, King has represented cannabis businesses in the Maine State Legislature. As a representative of Maine Professionals for Regulating Marijuana, King helped to draft and pass Maine’s Marijuana Legalization Act and significant amendments to Maine’s Medical Use of Marijuana Act. Because of her legal expertise and collaborative problem-solving skills, King was appointed to represent Maine’s adult use cannabis industry to the State of Maine Marijuana Advisory Commission, formed to continuously study and make recommendations to the legislature on best practices for regulating marijuana.
King also advises private companies and tribal clients on state and federal hemp laws, helping them comply with the complex federal and diverse state and local laws governing the production and sale of hemp and hemp products, including food products containing hemp extracts.
King has been recognized as a Top Rated Cannabis Lawyer by Super Lawyers. She is a frequent contributor to local and national publications and presenter at conferences nationwide on cannabis law. She earned her J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law and her B.A. from Prescott College.
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