CBA Record September-October 2024

New Practice Area Committees Seek Members CBA Family Office Committee By Anthony Fata

T he CBA is pleased to announce the creation of a new law commit tee: the Family Office Committee, designed to support attorneys who coun sel family offices. “Family offices” may take many forms. At a high level, a family office is a private business entity whose employees manage the assets of a family with significant wealth. Or it may be a group of such entities. The assets man aged by a family office can include a wide range of, or a combination of, stocks, bonds, derivatives, real estate, private placements, other private entities, and other types of assets. Practitioners who provide legal counsel to family offices operate in a highly inter disciplinary environment. Among other

topics, the committee intends to explore corporate formation, business transac tions, investment management, corporate governance, taxation, risk management, and philanthropic endeavors. It will also address estate planning, succession plan ning, inter-generational issues, and sib ling issues. Although many of these topics arise in other contexts, the Family Office Com mittee will tackle them from the unique perspective of family office legal prac titioners. The committee will be highly collaborative, with plans for an advisory council to assist with programming and outreach to thought leaders and leading practitioners. Meetings, seminars, and other forums for members and guests will

discuss topics, trends, and current events impacting this complex practice area. Co-chairs for the 2024-25 bar year are immediate past CBA President Ray J. Koenig III, Clark Hill, Jenni fer F. Kuzminksi, Aronberg Goldgehn, Anthony R. Licata, Taft Law, and Nicho las Tyszka, Handler Law. The Family Office Committee plans to meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month.

Anthony F. Fata is a partner at Kirby McInerney LLP and a CBA Record Editorial Board member.

CBA Cannabis Law and Regulations Committee By Jake Berger

T he relatively new CBA Cannabis Law and Regulations Committee was formed to address legal and regulatory issues facing the burgeoning legal cannabis industry both in Illinois and nationally. Among the issues the com mittee focuses on are protecting cannabis companies’ intellectual property and trade secrets; business formation and structure; regulatory compliance and licensing; financing; selling or merging a cannabis business; how federal and state criminal law may impact a cannabis business; and criminal and regulatory legal reform.

Many of these issues were discussed in a recent seminar entitled “The ABC’s of Cannabis Law Practice.” The seminar, which is available at learn.chicagobar.org for CLE credit, is an excellent primer for people who desire to start a cannabis busi ness in Illinois or for lawyers who may advise them. Upcoming meetings and seminars will discuss a range of legal issues in the emerging cannabis space. The committee is chaired by former Chicago City Council Alderman Latasha R. Thomas, Senior Counsel at Clark Hill and the Managing Director of Clark Hill

Public Strategies. Thomas has extensive experience advising clients on transac tional and corporate law issues, includ ing public finance, real estate, complex mergers and acquisitions, and regulatory issues/government relations. Te committee will meet as called during the bar year .

Jake Berger is a partner at Tabet DiVito & Rothstein and a CBA Record Editorial Board member.

To join either committee, sign up at chicagobar.org or email Meredith Loehr, CBA Committee Coordinator, at mloehr@chicagobar.org.

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