Employment, COVID-19, and Cannabis Conference
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U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands
Hyatt Regency Saipan Ballroom
AGENDA
| Friday, July 2, 2021 |
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| 7:30 am - 8:00 am | Registration and Seating |
| 8:00 am - 8:15 am | Welcome Remarks Honorable Ramona V. Manglona, Chief Judge U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands |
| 8:15 am - 9:15 am | Employment Law Updates EEOC Supervisory Trial Attorney Nakkisa Akhavan (Presenting Virtually) An update on recent Supreme Court decisions including a review of the implications the Bostock case has on employers and discrimination claims, religious discrimination issues in the workplace, and the impact of other potential legislation. |
| 9:20 am - 10:35 am | COVID-19 Challenges to Employment Law and Litigation EEOC Supervisory Trial Attorney Nakkisa Akhavan (Presenting Virtually) Covid-19 has impacted every aspect of our lives for more than a year and has fundamentally changed work. This session will focus on the EEOC’s guidance on workplace health and safety, vaccinations, masking and other forms of personal protective equipment, back to work requirements, reasonable accommodations for disabilities, work-from-home issues (monitoring, overtime, etc.), and other issues federal courts may start to see as a result of the pandemic. |
| 10:35 am - 10:50 am | BREAK |
| 10:50 am - 12:00 pm | Cannabis—Security, Compliance and Capital Finance John Malone, General Counsel for Shryne Group, Inc. (Presenting Virtually) Mr. Malone is a corporate and commercial cannabis regulatory attorney with both legal and business experience. After working as general counsel for a large health and wellness company, John returned to private practice at Arent Fox, LLP. His first legal experience in the cannabis industry came by way of drafting ordinances for government agencies in 2016. From there his corporate experience and industry knowledge became useful as the legalized cannabis market continued to evolve. After developing a successful cannabis practice group at Arent Fox, John joined Shryne Group as general counsel on the heels of assisting with the company's corporate consolidation as outside corporate counsel. As General Counsel he currently oversees commercial legal matters and business development, cannabis regulatory compliance, labor matters and corporate governance while the company continues to rapidly expand in California and the broader U.S. market. |
| Total CLE: 4.0 | |
PRESENTERS
NAKKISA AKHAVAN, SUPERVISORY TRIAL ATTORNEY FOR THE LOS ANGELES DISTRICT OF THE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION’S (EEOC) The EEOC enforces federal laws which prohibit discrimination in the workplace. The Los Angeles District which includes Central and Southern California, Southern Nevada, the state of Hawaii, and the U.S. territories of Guam, American Samoa, Wake Islands and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. Ms. Akhavan joined the EEOC in 2014 and was promoted to the position of Supervisory Trial Attorney in 2020. She has extensive experience litigating employment discrimination cases in federal courts including the Global Horizon, Prestige, and JPL. Ms. Akhavan received her Juris Doctorate from the UCLA School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from UC Berkeley.
JOHN MALONE, GENERAL COUNSEL FOR SHYRNE GROUP, INC. Mr. Malone is a corporate and commercial cannabis regulatory attorney with both legal and business experience. After working as general counsel for a large health and wellness company, John returned to private practice at Arent Fox, LLP. His first legal experience in the cannabis industry came by way of drafting ordinances for government agencies in 2016. From there his corporate experience and industry knowledge became useful as the legalized cannabis market continued to evolve. After developing a successful cannabis practice group at Arent Fox, John joined Shryne Group as general counsel on the heels of assisting with the company's corporate consolidation as outside corporate counsel. As General Counsel he currently oversees commercial legal matters and business development, cannabis regulatory compliance, labor matters and corporate governance while the company continues to rapidly expand in California and the broader U.S. market. |
