Meet Our Team
Patrick D. Goggin, Esq.
Earning an Environmental Law Certificate from Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, Mr. Goggin was admitted to the California Bar in 1996. Based in San Francisco, he served as co-counsel in the seminal HIA v. DEA cases in the early 2000s. In 2005, Mr. Goggin joined the Board of Directors for Vote Hemp, the leading national advocacy organization for the hemp industry. He then led the industry effort with Senator Mark Leno in 2013 to finally pass California’s Industrial Hemp Farming Act after three vetoes (2005, 2006, and 2011).
Mr. Goggin began working on cannabis regulation in San Francisco in 2005 when the City commenced its regulation of dispensaries. He helped to craft the City’s original and subsequent medical cannabis ordinance language. Since then, Mr. Goggin has represented clients throughout California and the U.S. on regulatory compliance issues, permitting of all facets of cannabis activity, and general business counsel. He served on San Francisco’s Medical Cannabis Task Force from 2010-11.
In 2018, Mr. Goggin co-founded the California Hemp Council (CHC) advocating on behalf of the hemp industries and developing California hemp policy. After two failed efforts, the CHC led a coalition that passed California’s hemp manufacturing statute in the fall of 2021 creating a structure for regulating CBD products in the face of FDA’s prohibition. From 2016 to 2021, Mr. Goggin served as Senior Counsel to the cannabusiness focused, international law firm Hoban Law Group (HLG) based in Denver, Colorado. While with HLG, he practiced at the local, state, national, and international levels including the import/export of hemp. From 2019 to 2022, Mr. Goggin served on the Advisory Board and Board of Directors for Fincanna, a publicly traded Canadian company.
In July 2021, Mr. Goggin returned to solo practice after five years at HLG. He continues to advise California, national, and international clients on all forms of cannabis and hemp compliance, general business counsel, strategic advising, and pre-litigation/litigation resolution while continuing his hemp policy work in Sacramento with the CHC. With a long history of litigating, Mr. Goggin is a trained mediator and has a respected reputation as a dispute resolution specialist, facilitator, and negotiator.
Steve Schain
Winner of National Law Journal’s “2019 Finance, Banking, & Capital Markets Trailblazer” award, Steve Schain runs 100% woman owned, national cannabis law firm Smart-Counsel, LLC's PA and NJ practices and Chair its Financial Services Group. Admitted to practice in PA and New Jersey, Steve represents entities, governments and individuals in litigation, regulation and compliance, license applications, entity formation, and drafting legislation. Steve is also an Adjunct Faculty Member of, and teaches “Cannabis Law” at, Stockton University, one of only 5 universities offering a minor in Cannabis Studies. A nationally recognized Cannabis, banking law and consumer finance litigation expert, Steve serves as a court appointed judge pro tempore and arbitrator, is a The Legal Intelligencer, New Jersey Law Journal, and Cannabis Business Executive columnist, frequent presents for the American Society of Testing and Measurement Cannabis Finance and Insurance Committee, National Cannabis Industry Association, International Cannabis Bar Association, Pennsylvania Credit Union Association, Bank Secrecy Act Compliance Group, Marijuana Business Daily, Pennsylvania Bar Institute and National Bar Institute, and is founding member of the Psychedelic Bar Association.
Larry Mishkin
Dennis Brovarone
Dennis Brovarone in his fourth decade of practicing law in Colorado, primarily focused on business formation, raising capital and corporate governance, securities law compliance and drafting the various contracts that entrepreneurs need in the course of developing a business. His objective in every client interaction is clear and concise communication and innovative thinking to resolve issues. Graduate of University of Denver College of Law in 1986 and University of Colorado Boulder in 1978.
Garrett Graff
As a member of Gould & Ratner’s corporate practice, Garrett Graff is driven to provide his clients, who are often in regulated industries, with real-world practical solutions, reflective of their business objectives, internal and external considerations, and an assessment of associated risks, giving them the ability to navigate complex problems with relative ease.
In his practice, Garrett advises a wide range of clients, from start-ups to established private middle-market companies to family offices to publicly traded companies, on a wide variety of corporate matters, with an emphasis in regulated industries. His counsel includes corporate formation and structuring, equity and debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, raising capital, securities, real estate and other complex commercial contracting issues, along with expertise in navigating complex regulatory environments on a federal, state and local basis.
Garrett formerly served as the managing partner of a boutique full-service law firm prior to joining Gould & Ratner, and given such executive experience and legal expertise, Garrett often serves as outside general counsel to many clients, further advising on matters relating to corporate governance, fiduciary duties, employment law and other general corporate matters, affording Garrett the ability to advise clients in an integrated, strategic fashion across their business. Further, Garrett is experienced in advising clients on the protection of intellectual property, litigation, policy and international issues.
His clients cross a variety of industries, ranging from real estate companies, consumer packaged goods, operators in regulated spaces such as cannabis (marijuana and hemp), liquor, food and beverage, natural products and psychedelics, manufacturing, technology, and investment companies.
