“ 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.”
Jacoby Law has become Oregon’s preeminent cannabis litigation firm.
Kevin Jacoby is well-respected in the cannabis industry and legal community because of his reputation for effectiveness, long-standing commitment to cannabis stakeholders, and his industry leadership in times of crisis. When the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission moved to ban botanical terpenes added to vape cartridges, Kevin Jacoby along with other cannabis lawyers, were the go-to attorneys and provided a quick, effective response, which revoked the ban, saving companies and jobs, and preserved consumer choice. More recently, when cannabis producers were reeling from a new testing rule for a ubiquitous microorganism, Aspergillus, which threatened the viability of many producers and a substantial portion of the 2023 fall outdoor harvest, the industry turned to Kevin’s expert guidance to petition the Oregon Court of Appeals and strike down the requirement.
On August 25, 2023, the Court of Appeals did just that. Kevin Jacoby is often sought out for a second opinion, or to repair the mistakes and missteps of prior counsel, particularly in matters involving sales of OLCC-licensed businesses, and administrative litigation such as license revocation proceedings. Kevin is consistently engaged in contested administrative proceedings involving OLCC licenses, including license revocation proceedings, since the OLCC first began enforcing cannabis regulations. For example, he represented the respondent in the first reported hearing involving OLCC-regulated cannabis: a proposed license denial after a failed background check (and yes, our client in that case now has a license and operates a very successful retail store). We firmly believe there is no substitute for experience, our staff also includes team members who hold marijuana workers permits, and who have worked as employees in Oregon cannabis companies. Kevin Jacoby serves in leadership roles in various local cannabis organizations and industry groups. He is currently a member of the Oregon State Bar’s Cannabis and Psychedelics Law Section and has been since its inception, as well as Special Litigation Counsel for the Cannabis Industry Alliance of Oregon.