
Robert Hoban
Founding Member, Chariman
Brief info
Robert Hoban is a corporate and M&A attorney, who sits at the center of the world’s largest commercial cannabis industry network. He is a leader of Clark Hill’s AmLaw-leading Cannabis Industry Group. As the cannabis industry commercialized, Bob has been widely credited for creating the class of lawyers now known as “cannabis attorneys.”
He has truly transcended the practice of law and is regularly involved in assembling and structuring large-scale cannabis industry M&A transactions – over $1B in M&A activity since his entry into the cannabis sector over a dozen years ago. Bob has consistently been recognized as one of the most influential people in the global cannabis industry by a variety of organizations and publications over the course of the past dozen-plus years.
As an attorney, Bob is recognized nationwide by Chambers USA, Martindale-Hubbell (AV Preeminent® Rating), Superlawyers, as a “Cannabis Law Trailblazer” by the National Law Journal, and he has been consistently recognized as one of “Denver’s Top Cannabis Lawyers” for more than a decade. Mr. Hoban personally manages relationships with his Fortune 1000 clients, as well as numerous funds and government entities. He also represents leading companies in other emerging industries and technologies, such as legalized psychedelics.
In most cases, as outside general counsel, Mr. Hoban manages companies’ legal matters through relationships with other Clark Hill attorneys and coordinates representation for all legal issues, including corporate, litigation, immigration, employment, data privacy and cybersecurity, real estate, and intellectual property matters. He also attends Board meetings and Officer meetings, as well as maintains regular contact with clients regarding active and potential new matters.
As a cannabis industry expert, Mr. Hoban was recognized as one of the Top 42.0 influential cannabis industry pioneers by Forbes Magazine, and has been featured in consecutive years as one of the most influential voices in the Latin American cannabis sector by The Business Year (2021-2022). In the past dozen+ years, Bob has received numerous awards for his leadership, policy, and market development efforts across the world.
Mr. Hoban is a founder of the leading international cannabis consultancy, Gateway Proven Strategies.
From 2010-2016, Bob served as one of the Nation’s first cannabis policy instructors at the University of Denver, where he regularly lectured regarding cannabis policy topics, and led multiple international travel courses concerning the implementation of international cannabis regulation. Given this academic background, Bob has been engaged to develop legislation and/or regulation for over thirty (30) countries around the world, and has participated at the United Nations concerning cannabis policy reform in various forums over the past dozen+ years.
Mr. Hoban was recognized in 2021 by Titan 100 recipient as one of Colorado’s Top 100 CEO’s & C-level executives. He has served as a C-Suite member on numerous occasions (CEO, CSO) for national and international cannabis companies, and presently sits on the Board of Directors for Glass House Brands, and as a Board Member for Athletes for Care, Regennabis, Chrystal Capital, Green Flower Media, the Global Cannabis Network Collective, and Akers Biosciences. In 2022, Mr. Hoban completed a Fellowship for a Certificate in Cannabis Journalism at the University of Vermont.
Bob is a Forbes contributor and frequently appears in media coverage as a legal expert on cannabis and has been a keynote speaker at dozens of cannabis events around the world. He has conducted hundreds of interviews regarding marijuana policy for international, national, state, and local media outlets. Major media outlets like the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, CNN, Rolling Stone, Forbes, VICE, MSNBC, and Bloomberg all have called on Bob for his unique perspective on the cannabis industry.
Prior to joining Clark Hill, Bob deliberately constructed the Hoban Law Group (HLG) to become the world’s leading full-service commercial cannabis industry law firm. For more than a decade, HLG represented the cannabis industry’s titans in every aspect of the commercial cannabis industry around the world. In June of 2021, HLG was acquired by international law firm, Clark Hill. And Bob joined Clark Hill as a Member, Member-in-Charge of Clark Hill’s new Denver Office, and the Co-Leader of its Cannabis Industry Practice Group.