“ The bottom line is that Kevin Jacoby saved my business. When faced with a regulatory change that basically was forcing me out of business, I organized a group of affected business owners to seek solutions. Many people told us that using the courts would not be a good avenue for our endeavor. After our attempts to work things out with the governing agencies went nowhere, we interviewed several lawyers who all had different takes on our plight, but all were unsure of a good strategy. Kevin however, immediately saw a potential angle and impressed us with his professionalism and experience with administrative law. Himself and his small, efficient team built an argument that amazingly quickly got us an emergency stay and then a full win. We were literally days from having to permanently shutter our doors and the case opened them immediately. Kevin was great to work with, his patience for the questions from our entire team was incredible; his work ethic, which often involved long hours of work done to make filings that our group requested, constantly impressed me. For all these reasons and more, I highly recommend Kevin Jacoby as a general counsel and specifically for administrative law, where his knowledge and experience really shine.”
Regulations and orders issued by state agencies such as the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Department of Agriculture, and Water Resources Department, dictate important decisions for business owners that could result in total losses.
Since 2006, Jacoby Law has represented Oregonians against these and other agencies when they exceed their authority while successfully protecting crucial assets. Kevin Jacoby has practiced administrative law his entire career, and took Oregon Administrative Law in law school from former Oregon Supreme Court Justice Mick Gillette, who is regarded as the father of administrative law jurisprudence in Oregon.
Kevin’s approach to administrative litigation is guided first and foremost by the needs of his particular client. In most cases, even serious allegations of violations of administrative laws or statutes enforced by administrative agencies can be settled for something less than the agency alleges in their initial notice of proposed action. In cases that can’t be settled, either because the agency will not accept a compromise or because the client has potentially meritorious defenses, Kevin will advise the client as to the projected costs of taking the matter to an administrative hearing and, if necessary, appeals beyond that.
In Oregon, most administrative cases are assigned to an administrative law judge who will determine the facts of the case after a hearing in which the client and the agency presents evidence, testimony and argument as to the proper disposition of the charges. Once the administrative law judge renders a decision, cases can generally be appealed to the Oregon Court of Appeals. As an experienced appellate lawyer and litigator, Kevin approaches all of his administrative litigation cases with an eye toward how Oregon appellate courts will consider the issues.
CASE STUDY
Aspergillus 2023
Filed a lawsuit against OHA which resulted in a court order suspending the requirement to test cannabis products for certain species of a mold known as Aspergillus, followed by OHA issuing a temporary rule formally suspending the requirement. The temporary rule went into effect on September 15, 2023 and will remain so through March 12, 2024. OHA is expected to make the temporary rule permanent later this year.
Vape Ban 2019
Successfully obtained an order from the Oregon Court of Appeals halting the flavored vape products ban put into place by the OLCC, saving a crucial source of revenue for Oregon’s cannabis processors.
Jin’s, Inc. v. Oregon Liquor Control Commission, Court of Appeals Case No. A168352.
Kevin represented an applicant for a recreational marijuana retailer license that OLCC had proposed to deny. Kevin then appealed the final order to the Court of Appeals. On March 26, 2019, he filed the opening brief in the matter. On June 6, 2019, OLCC filed a notice of withdrawal of the final order for purposes of reconsideration “to reconsider the order in light of the contentions raised on appeal.” On June 25, 2019, the Commission filed an amended final order that reversed its prior disposition, and ordered OLCC staff to continue to process the clients’ application, which then resulted in our client obtaining its recreational marijuana retailer license on September 25, 2019.