Blogs & Insights
Long-form legal analysis and practical guidance for businesses operating in emerging and regulated industries.
Explore Cogent Law blogs and thought leadership across cannabis, fintech, blockchain, corporate law, intellectual property, litigation, tax, immigration, and money transmission.
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BlogWhat Startups Actually Need to Know Before They Protect Their IP
Evan Smith, Partner at Cogent Law, on treating intellectual property as a business tool: what to patent, when to file, how to choose a protectable trademark, and how to handle trade secrets with investors.
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BlogCross-Border Expansion in Regulated Industries: Risks and Strategies
Joshua Radbod of Cogent Law and Rubio Teixeira of Octus Consulting on licensing timelines, costs, local partners, and compliance lead time when expanding into the United States or Brazil.
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BlogGuaranteeing the First Loan: A State Loan-Loss Reserve, a Farmer-Owned Marketplace, and the Test Case New York Needs
Suehiko Ono and Chris Van Dyck propose a New York state-funded loan-loss reserve for cannabis lending, and a farmer-owned marketplace test case that would make the first loan bankable.
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BlogThe Institutionalization of Cannabis Lending: Credit Risk, Regulators, and the Opportunity
Chris Van Dyck of Cogent Law and Ted Robinson of CTrust on why cannabis lending is institutionalizing: where regulatory risk actually sits, the three risks specific to cannabis loans, examiner expectations, and what rescheduling changes.
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BlogCannabis Rescheduling: Vault for Banking and Financial Services?
How the rescheduling of medical cannabis to Schedule III reshapes risk, compliance, and lending strategy for financial institutions serving the cannabis industry.
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BlogStablecoin Payments and the EFTA
Mark T. Dabertin analyzes the CFPB's withdrawn proposed rule and explains why applying Regulation E to on-chain stablecoin payments would be both impracticable and legally misplaced.
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BlogInside the Cannabis Operator Playbook: What Actually Happens After You Launch
Operators and advisors break down what actually happens after launch, from governance and dispute clauses in operating agreements to GMP readiness, staffing, and documented compliance processes.
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BlogReflections on Bank-Fintech Relationships
A close look at third-party partner approval requirements, due diligence, growth and stress modeling, ongoing AML/CFT monitoring, and what it takes to unwind fintech partnerships responsibly.
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BlogBuilding a Cannabis and Hemp Banking Program That Endures
Lessons from institutions that banked cannabis successfully: why business development and BSA have to run the program together, and how compliance discipline turns into lasting member loyalty.
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BlogWhat Cannabis Founders Get Wrong Before They Ever Open Their Doors
Moving fast is not less expensive. Founders share why durable cannabis businesses depend on HR infrastructure from day one and on legal, compliance, and insurance rowing in the same direction.
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BlogLiquidity Isn't an Event: Early Strategic Paths for Founders
Liquidity is not an event. It is the result of a series of structural, legal, and strategic choices that begin on day one. The founders who understand this early are the ones who retain control, preserve optionality, and ultimately drive their own outcomes.
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BlogM&A Readiness Is Not a Moment, It Is a Management Standard
Most founders treat M&A readiness as a switch they flip when a buyer shows up or a banker calls. They think it starts with hiring an investment banker. It does not.
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