Rootwurks partner Vicente Sederberg LLP was recently named “Cannabis Law Firm of the Year” at the Chambers USA Awards 2022.
According to Chambers, the awards “recognize a law firm’s pre-eminence in key jurisdictions in the region. They also reflect achievements over the past 12 months, including outstanding work, impressive strategic growth, and excellence in client service.”
Vicente Sederberg has won “Cannabis Law Firm of the Year” in the two years Chambers has included the category. The firm also received a top national ranking (Nationwide Band 1) from Chambers USA for the fourth straight year.
Chambers and Partners stated that Vicente Sederberg “is widely respected throughout the market” and cited, in particular, their work with the Scottsdale Research Institute to challenge the five-part test used by the DEA.
As a result of the lawsuit, in late 2021, the DEA approved applications by several research institutes to grow and clinically test cannabis. Before the case, for decades, the only approved research facility for cannabis was at a National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded lab at the University of Mississippi.
Chambers ranks law firms and individual lawyers in bands from 1 (highest) to 6 (lowest) based on the following qualities: technical legal ability, professional conduct, client service, commercial astuteness, diligence, and commitment, among other criteria.
Chambers has described Vicente Sederberg co-founder Brian Vicente as “a leading light in the cannabis market, where his practice focuses on assisting clients with license and permit applications.”
Other Vicente Sederberg partners to receive accolades include founding partner Christian Sederberg, who was ranked in Band 1, while Charles Alovisetti and Cassia Furman were ranked in Band 2 and 3, respectively. Partner Shawn Hauser was ranked as “Up and Coming.”
Vicente Sederberg was founded in 2010 and today has more than 75 employees, including three dozen attorneys in offices in Denver, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, New Jersey, Ann Arbor, Austin, and Jacksonville. The firm has won a bevy of awards in recent years, including being named one of the “Best Law Firms” for corporate law in November 2021. It was also included in the 2020 list of “Top Cannabis Law Firms” compiled by Green Market Report and Cannabis Law Report.
In the list, Green Market Report said Vicente Sederberg “is not just a law firm that decided to jump into the cannabis space. It is solely a cannabis law firm and has been at the leading edge of cannabis law and policy since the inception of the regulated cannabis industry.”
And in 2015, Rolling Stone referred to Vicente Sederberg as “the country's first powerhouse marijuana law firm.”
In May 2022, Rootwurks and Vicente Sederberg announced the launching of a partnership to develop the Rootwurks Learning Experience Platform (LXP), a comprehensive e-learning and compliance solution for cannabis. The platform was built by Rootwurks’ founders, using their experience founding Alchemy Systems (now Intertek Alchemy), the global leader in frontline workforce training, education, and compliance for the food industry. Vicente Sederberg has provided unparalleled expertise in cannabis policy and regulatory matters and has co-produced and vetted content for the LXP.