Vincent Sliwoski

Vince Sliwoski is a business attorney whose practice focuses on helping companies navigate complex domestic and international legal and regulatory issues. He advises clients ranging from startups and closely held businesses to established multinational companies across a wide range of industries, with particular experience in cannabis, international trade, manufacturing, corporate transactions, intellectual property strategy, and commercial contracting.

A significant portion of Vince's practice centers on the cannabis industry, where he has advised businesses for more than a decade on regulatory compliance, licensing, corporate structuring, mergers and acquisitions, financing, and operational matters. He represents cannabis operators, investors, ancillary businesses, and international companies entering or expanding within regulated markets. His experience spans state regulatory frameworks throughout the United States, allowing clients to navigate evolving legal requirements while pursuing strategic growth opportunities.

His corporate practice encompasses business formation, governance, commercial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic business planning. Vince works closely with entrepreneurs, established businesses, and investors to structure transactions, negotiate agreements, and address the legal issues that arise throughout a company's lifecycle. He regularly prepares and negotiates shareholder agreements, operating agreements, purchase agreements, and other commercial contracts designed to protect clients' long-term business interests.

Vince also advises clients on intellectual property protection as part of broader commercial and international business strategies. His work includes developing practical approaches to protecting proprietary information, trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights, and other valuable business assets, particularly in connection with manufacturing relationships and cross-border business operations. He is well known for helping companies implement preventative legal strategies that reduce the likelihood of disputes before they arise.

In addition to transactional work, Vince counsels clients on regulatory compliance, risk management, and dispute avoidance across a variety of industries. His practical, business-oriented approach emphasizes identifying commercial objectives while developing legal solutions that account for operational realities and evolving regulatory requirements.

Beyond his client practice, Vince is a frequent author and speaker on cannabis law, international trade, manufacturing, and business law topics. He regularly publishes analyses of legal developments affecting domestic and international businesses and is widely recognized for providing practical guidance on emerging legal and regulatory issues.

The Marijuana Insurgency: Federalism and Social Reframing in Policy Reform, Seattle University Law Review, July 24, 2024.

F*** the Treaties: Rescheduling and “Marijuana-Specific Controls”, Cannabis Law Journal, May 24, 2024.

We(ed) Hold These Truths to be Self-Evident: All Things Cannabis Are Inequitable, University of Massachusetts Law Review, January 1, 2024.

Cooperative Federalism: Stigmatization and the Obstacles Surrounding Psychedelic Legalization, Texas Undergraduate Law Journal, Fall 2023.

Cannabis Seed Importation Carries CBP Enforcement Risks, Law360, July 5, 2023.

Psychedelic Rx: Legal Battles Aim to Expand Patients’ Access to Psilocybin and Other Hallucinogens, American Bar Association Journal, 2022.

Cannabis Securities Litigation, Seton Hall Legislative Journal, 2022.

Microdosing at Work: Business and Legal Implications, Harvard Law School, Petrie-Flom Center Bill of Health, April 8, 2022.

Psychedelics 2021 Year in Review and Looking Ahead to 2022, Practical Law, January 31, 2022.

Puff, Puff, Tax: Internal Revenue Code Section 208E Penalizes State-Sanctioned Marijuana Companies And Undermines The Ability To Pay Principle, Villanova Law Review, 2021.

Why Was Early Therapeutic Research on Psychedelic Drugs Abandoned?, Psychological Medicine, Cambridge University Press, 2021.

Cannabis Banking: What Marijuana Can Learn from Hemp, Boston University Law Review, 2021.

It’s (Not) Just a Plant: Landscapes of Legalized Cannabis in Oregon’s Rogue River Valley, University of Arizona School of Geography, Development, and Environment, 2021.

Letter from Senators Warren and Booker calling for the decriminalization of cannabis, October 6, 2021.

Federal Courts Are Trending Against Cannabis Contracts, Law360, September 24, 2020.

Preventing Industry Abuse of Cannabis Equity Programs, Southern Illinois University Law Journal, 2020.

Developments in Interstate Compact Law and Practice, American Bar Association, 2020.

Politics and Finite Flexibilities: The UN Drug Control Conventions and Their Future Development, American Journal of International Law, 2020.

I Was Gonna Get a Job, But Then I Got High: An Examination of Cannabis and Employment in the Port-Baratu Regime, Boston University Law Review, 2019.

Up in Smoke: The Looming Insolvency of Oregon Marijuana Growers and the Case for Chapter 12 Bankruptcy Relief, University of Oregon Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, 2019.

Marriage Equality and a Lawyer’s Role in the Emergence of “New Rights”, Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality, 2019.

A Tale of Two Countries: Does Canada’s Legalization of Cannabis Give it the First Mover Advantage in Franchising?, Franchise Law Journal, 2019.

Unrealistic Expectations: The Federal Government’s Unachievable Mandate for State Cannabis Regulation, Washington Law Review, 2018.

Dr. GreenThumb Goes to Washington: A Scientific Argument for the Legalization of Medical Marijuana, Seton Hall Cir. Review, 2017.

Legalizing Marijuana: A View from Among the Weeds, Hastings Law Journal, 2017.

Helmet to Helmet: The State of the National Football League’s Unsubstantiated Policies in Handling Player Use of Opioids and Marijuana, Mississippi Sports Law Review, 2017.

The Colors of Cannabis: Race and Marijuana, University of California Davis Law Review, 2016.

Vince actively supports Oregon’s creative and non-profit cultures. He serves as general counsel to some of the state’s signature events, including the Pickathon Music Festival and the Waterfront Blues Festival. He is a former columnist for the Portland Mercury and a past President of the Hollywood Theatre’s Board of Directors.

Vince enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, reading and writing, and hosting friends for a Manhattan in his basement bar. Don’t get him started on fly fishing.

Lewis & Clark Law School

Juris Doctorate

Minnesota State University

Bachelors

USA’s Top 10 Cannabis Lawyers

Business Today

2023

Rising Star

Super Lawyers

2020

Vince Sliwoski advises clients throughout the United States on corporate, commercial, and regulatory matters, with particular experience in jurisdictions that have established legal frameworks for the cannabis industry, in particular Oregon and Minnesota. He regularly represents businesses with operations in multiple states, helping them navigate differing regulatory requirements while supporting expansion, transactions, and ongoing compliance.

His practice frequently involves coordinating multi-jurisdictional matters for companies operating across state lines, including corporate governance, commercial agreements, mergers and acquisitions, and regulatory issues. He also advises domestic and international clients on U.S. market entry, federal legal considerations, and the intersection of state and federal law affecting highly regulated industries.

Vince Sliwoski advises businesses across a range of regulated and growth-oriented industries, with particular experience in the cannabis sector. He has represented licensed operators, ancillary businesses, investors, lenders, and entrepreneurs on matters involving business formation, corporate governance, financing, mergers and acquisitions, licensing, regulatory compliance, and commercial transactions.

In addition to his cannabis practice, Vince regularly counsels clients in the consumer products, agriculture, food and beverage, manufacturing, and technology sectors. He advises businesses at all stages of growth, from startups and emerging companies to established enterprises, helping them navigate corporate transactions, operational challenges, strategic planning, and evolving regulatory requirements.

His practice also includes advising investors and privately held companies on business expansion, governance, commercial contracting, and risk management. Vince frequently works with companies operating in highly regulated industries, where legal strategy must account for changing regulatory frameworks, business objectives, and long-term growth.

Known for his practical, business-focused approach, Vince serves as outside counsel to companies seeking strategic legal advice that supports day-to-day operations as well as significant corporate initiatives.