Andrew Kline Senior Counsel

Andrew Kline leverages his more than thirty years of law and policy experience in his diverse practice. He counsels clients in established and emerging industries on regulatory compliance, due diligence, internal investigations, privacy, public policy, and litigation strategy. Andrew is the firmwide co-chair of the firm’s national Cannabis Law industry group.

Admitted to the Colorado, California, and Washington, D.C., bars, Andrew brings a rare combination of legal, public policy, regulatory enforcement, rulemaking, and prosecutorial experience to the firm, following decades of service in the highest levels of government and the private and nonprofit sectors. Drawing on his experience as a federal prosecutor, policy advisor to then-Vice President Biden, counsel to then-Senator Biden, and service in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Enforcement Bureau, Andrew represents clients in some of the most sensitive and challenging areas of law and policy. 

Regulatory Compliance

• Serves as trusted advisor to companies in highly regulated industries, including major consumer brands in alcohol, cannabis, and food and beverage.
• Provides regulatory counsel to Fortune 500 beverage companies on new product innovation and distribution, and to some of the largest brands and multistate operators in the cannabis industry.
• Negotiates complex issues related to state cannabis laws and regulations and the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) before state regulatory bodies.
• Provides ongoing counsel to Fortune 500 fintech companies on emerging industry compliance issues.
• Advises organizations on board governance and conflicts issues.

Due Diligence

• Leads cannabis-specific due diligence efforts to support mergers and acquisitions (M&A), including for sensitive and valuation-altering matters.
• Conducts cannabis-related due diligence in support of individual investors and family offices.

Internal Investigations

• Co-leads corporate internal investigations regarding conflicts of interest and malfeasance, drawing on 14 years of experience as a federal prosecutor.

Litigation

• Serves as a trusted litigator and advocate with a track record of more than four dozen jury trials.
• Leads client service for one of the nation’s largest cannabis edible manufacturers, including in the successful resolution of claims in a copyright and trade dress infringement case in federal district court.
• Suing the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on behalf of palliative care physician and terminally ill patients.
• Handling breach-of-contract matters for multistate cannabis operators.

Privacy Law (Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA))

• Advises clients on developing privacy law issues.
• Guides clients in navigating novel conflicts related to free speech, privacy, and public safety in scenarios that are fraught with legal and reputational risk.
• Counsel to global technology leaders and emerging companies to respond to and, where appropriate, object to and litigate requests for their users’ data. 
• Counsels technology businesses facing demands from law enforcement, civil litigants, and others in the United States and abroad, seeking information about their customers, such as their online activity, private communications, location information, financial transactions, and other sensitive data.

Public Policy and Coalition Management

• Leads public policy for a coalition of the largest multistate cannabis operators to inform and influence the Biden administration's cannabis scheduling process.

Cumulative Cannabis Industry Experience

• In addition to his legal and policy work, Andrew founded and leads the National Cannabis Lab Coalition (NCLC), leads the Responsibility Committee for the U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC), and serves on the cannabis committees for the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI), and the Colorado Bar Association.
• Andrew previously served as public policy director for the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), the oldest and largest trade organization for the state-legal cannabis industry. He also served as the president of the National Association of Cannabis Businesses (NACB), a self-regulatory organization modeled after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).