Commercial Litigation Update

A recent amendment to Washington’s Commercial Electronic Mail Act (CEMA), scheduled to take effect on June 11, 2026, has prompted a surge of class action filings. The amendment revises the statutory standard for actionable violations and reduces statutory damages, spurring plaintiffs to file under the current, more plaintiff-friendly framework before the change becomes law.

Cannabis has become big business in this country. In 2022, U.S. medical and recreational cannabis sales reached $30 billion. In fact, last year, Americans spent more money on marijuana than chocolate and craft beer combined. By 2027, sales are projected to reach more than $53 billion.

Like any other enterprise, those in the cannabis industry experience typical business disputes, ranging from vendor under/lack of performance, to issues with governmental regulatory bodies. Sometimes those disputes require cannabis businesses to resort to the courts to resolve those issues ...

I'm currently in the wilds of Alaska, learning about the training of sled dogs. Nevertheless, word of the Supreme Court's five most recent decisions has traveled northward. While none of these decisions is earthshaking, they are not uninteresting or unimportant, especially to those like health care and employee benefits lawyers.