Alicia Ashcraft
Alicia R. Ashcraft is a Fennemore Director in Las Vegas who advises businesses on administrative law, regulatory compliance, licensing, mergers and acquisitions, corporate transactions, real estate, and land use. She represents clients in highly regulated industries, including gaming, cannabis, alcohol and transportation, and serves as outside general counsel on a broad range of business matters.
With over 13 years of experience in the cannabis industry, Alicia represents multistate operators, dispensaries, producers, cultivators, investors, lenders, landlords, tenants, and vendors, and assists them with strategic acquisitions, commercial transactions, real estate matters, land use entitlements, reorganization, and corporate governance. She also advises businesses responding to regulatory compliance audits and disciplinary actions, provides compliance training, and represents clients in licensing applications and proceedings before Nevada administrative agencies, state and local governments.
Her regulatory and licensing experience includes matters before the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board, Nevada Department of Taxation, Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health, Nevada Athletic Commission, Nevada Transportation Authority, Nevada Gaming Commission, Nevada Gaming Control Board and various municipal and county agencies. Her background also includes business litigation, creditors’ rights, and bankruptcy.
Education
- J.D., Seattle University School of Law, cum laude
- B.A., Greenville College, magna cum laude
Areas Of Practice
Our business and finance attorneys represent national, regional and local clients participating in significant transactions.
Guiding you through the establishment and growth of your cannabis business.
The trusted partner for legal and regulatory counsel in the food & beverage industry.
Our hospitality attorneys advise and represent businesses and trade associations involved in the varied aspects of the $3.4 trillion hospitality industry.
Fennemore boasts a large and sophisticated client-focused Mergers and Acquisitions practice.
For More Than 140 Years – Helping Our Clients Realize Their Vision For Responsible Development In The American West
Our real estate practice is one of the largest in the American West, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and Washington with experience in all aspects of the real estate development process, from due diligence, acquisition and finance, through land use permitting and entitlements, to leasing and sale.
Strategic, business-focused legal counsel, in step with your company’s growth.
Representative Matters
- Represented multi-state operator in company restructuring, including state and local government compliance for transfers of licenses and assets.
- Represented state-licensed company in bid process for cannabis licenses in state receivership,including as to acquisition mechanics, cannabis regulatory issues, Cannabis Compliance Board transfers, and strategic planning.
- Represented a vertically integrated cannabis operator in negotiating and documenting a complex commercial transaction to transfer a dispensary/retail store and related assets, while restructuring company to complete transaction without disruption to facility operations including maintaining cultivation and production operations.
- Represented various Nevada cannabis companies with respect to initial public offerings, private offerings, mergers, and strategic business relationships.
- Represented various cannabis companies in preparing and negotiating complex commercial leases, loans, partnership agreements, and vendor contracts for businesses in the Nevada cannabis market.
- Represented a hemp/CBD products distributor as to state and local government regulatory compliance and licensing considerations, including application to Nevada Department of Agriculture for issuance of industrial hemp handlers certificate.
- Represented receiver appointed over a cannabis cultivation and production establishment, including approval by Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board, following insolvency proceedings initiated by creditors.
- Represented cannabis and hemp companies in developing strategy for intellectual property (trademark and trade name) protection and filing for state and federal registrations.
- Successfully represented various in-state and out-of-state companies in preparing and submitting competitive licensing applications for initial issuance of medical marijuana establishment licenses (under Division of Public and Behavioral Health) and for issuance of adult-use marijuana establishment licenses (under Department of Taxation).
- Represented lenders and finance companies in secured transactions including advising as to Nevada regulatory compliance matters for approval of secured transactions and advising as to process for compliant foreclosure if required to enforce commercial loan transaction.
- Designated as an expert witness in multiple commercial litigation matters involving cannabis businesses.
Awards and Honors
- Chambers USA, 2023-2026, Band 3
- Best Lawyers in America®, Commercial Litigation, 2021-2026
- AV® Peer Review and Judicial Rated, Martindale-Hubbell, 2013-2026
- Mountain States Super Lawyers®, Top Rated Business & Corporate Attorney, 2019, 2024-2026
- 14th Annual International M&A Awards, Winner Consumer Staples Deal of the Year under $100MM (2023); 21st Annual M&A Advisor Awards, Finalist for Consumer Staples Deal of the Year between $10MM – $100MM (2022)
- Nevada Business Magazine’s “Top Rank Attorneys” (Formerly “Legal Elite”), 2013, 2020, 2023
- Mountain States Super Lawyers® Rising Star, 2008
Articles and Presentations
- Event Conference Host, Moderator, and Presenter, State Bar of Nevada, Cannabis Law Section, Annual Cannabis Law Conference, 2022 – 2026
- Co-Author, “If Cannabis Is Rescheduled…Then What?” Nevada Business Magazine, October 2024
- Author, “Intellectual Property Protection in the Cannabis Industry,” Nevada Lawyer, April 2024
- Co-Author, “Lights, Camera, Regulatory Action,” The Secured Lender, November 2023
- Co-Presenter, “Crafting a Winning License Application,” International Cannabis Bar Association, Law Sessions, MJBizCon, November 2023
- Co-Author, “A New Day for the Cannabis Nevada Industry—Legislative Review,” Nevada Business Magazine, October 2023
- Author, “The Importance of the Administrative Procedures Act and the Hidden Dangers of Exemption,” Nevada Lawyer, May 2021
- Co-Author, “Is This the Year Congress Legalizes Cannabis,” Nevada Business Magazine, October 2021
- Co-Author, “New Statutes and Regulations Bring a World of Change to Nevada Cannabis Compliance,” Nevada Business Magazine, October 2020
- Presenter, International Cannabis Bar Association, Law Sessions, MJBizCon, December 2019
- Co-Presenter, ABA Forum on the Sports and Entertainment Industries, October 2019
- Presenter, National Cannabis Industry Association, Business Summit & Expo, July 2019
- Presenter, The Business of Marijuana in Nevada, The Seminar Group, July 2019
- Presenter, Marijuana in Nevada, The Seminar Group, July 2018
- Co-Author, “Nevada’s Gaming Past Illuminates the Marijuana Industry’s Future,” Nevada Business Magazine, October 2017
- Presenter, Medical and Recreational Marijuana in Nevada, The Seminar Group, July 2017
- Co-Author, “Compliance Is Key in the Marijuana Industry,” Nevada Business Magazine, October 2016
- Author, “A Brief Summary of the Nevada Administrative Procedure Act,” Nevada Lawyer Magazine, April 2011
Professional and Community Activities
- Chair, State Bar of Nevada, Cannabis Law Section, 2019 – present
- Chair, State Bar of Nevada, Administrative Law Section, 2008 – 2011, 2013
- Lifetime Member, International Cannabis Bar Association
- Advisory Board, Honor Flight Southern Nevada
- Instructor, University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Honors College, Cannabis Law Policy and Society (Fall 2026)
Admissions
- Nevada
- District of Columbia
- Virginia
- U.S. District Court, Dist. of Nevada
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Dist. of Nevada