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Everything you need to know about BMD and the industry.

BMD Recognized as Best Law Firm 2021

Blog Post

We are excited to announce that BMD is included in the 2021 Edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms,” recognized for professional excellence with consistently impressive ratings from clients and peers.

The full firm report is as follows:

Metropolitan Tier 1

  • Akron
    • Litigation - Trusts & Estates
  • Columbus-OH
    • Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants

Metropolitan Tier 2

  • Akron
    • Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
    • Litigation - Intellectual Property
    • Trusts & Estates Law
    • Workers' Compensation Law - Claimants
    • Workers' Compensation Law - Employers
  • Fort Myers
    • Real Estate Law

Metropolitan Tier 3

  • Akron
    • Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law
    • Employment Law - Individuals
    • Employment Law - Management
    • Trademark Law

The U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in the field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process.

Awards were given in 75 national practice areas and 127 metropolitan practice areas. Additionally, one "Law Firm of the Year" was named in each nationally-ranked practice area.

The 2021 “Best Law Firms” rankings can be seen in their entirety by visiting bestlawfirms.usnews.com


Non-compete Agreements are Under Fire: What Employers Need to Know

Non-compete agreements are an ongoing topic of dispute. Employers and their advocates point to the efficacy of non-competes in protecting proprietary information. Employees and their advocates argue about worker mobility and that employers unduly burden workers’ ability to seek better jobs. The Biden administration has put forth its position, and state legislatures have introduced bills addressing the enforceability of non-competes. Here is what you need to know:

BMD’s Jason Butterworth Quietly Engineers Some of Akron’s Most Impactful Projects

Jason Butterworth, a team member of BMD’s Business & Corporate practice, focuses his practice on finance, real estate, and tax credit law.

Explosive Growth in Pot of Gold Opportunity for Bank (and Other) Cannabis Lenders Driving Erosion of the Barriers

Our original article on bank lending to the cannabis industry anticipated that the convergence of interest between banks and the cannabis industry would draw more and larger banks to the industry. Banks were awash in liquidity with limited deployment options, while bankable cannabis businesses had rapidly growing needs for more and lower cost credit. Since then, the pot of gold opportunity for banks to lend into the cannabis industry has grown exponentially due to a combination of market constraints on equity causing a dramatic shift to debt and the ever-increasing capital needs of one of the country’s fastest growing industries. At the same time, hurdles to entry of new banks are being systematically cleared as the yellow brick road to the cannabis industry’s access to the financial markets is being paved, brick by brick, by the progressively increasing number and size of banks that are now entering the market.

Celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

In recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPI Heritage Month), Brennan Manna and Diamond is proud to recognize the contributions and achievements of our AAPI members.

Fluresh Cannabis’ Bank Loan: Moving Into the Mainstream

The announcement by Fluresh, a vertically integrated Michigan based cannabis business, of the closing of loans from a federally insured commercial bank totaling almost $50 million represents an important landmark for both Fluresh and the cannabis industry writ large. For Fluresh, perhaps as important as the bottom-line benefits of lower cost financing, the fact that its operations and financials passed muster with a substantial commercial bank can be regarded as an important rite of passage. For the industry, it reflects its inexorable movement out of the shadows and into the mainstream. This substantiates the view that, whether or not any of pending the federal legislation is enacted, bank lending to the cannabis industry will continue to accelerate.