Kyle Sosebee

Kyle Sosebee, Esq.

Kyle grew up in Colorado and earned a Philosophy degree from Colorado College.  After living in Jackson, WY, and Humboldt County, CA, Kyle attended law school at University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.  After passing the bar, Kyle moved to Brooklyn and spent 13 years practicing law in New York before moving to Western Mass in 2019.

Kyle is licensed in Massachusetts and New York and his practice has spanned representing environmental activists and animal rights protesters, to non-profits, to child abuse litigation and appeals and is now focused on startups, small businesses and cooperatives in emerging industries.

Kyle may be the only attorney in the Commonwealth with a focus on cannabis cooperatives and believes that good lawyering requires creativity and a willingness to work with novel concepts in order to empower a client's success.

Kyle lives in beautiful Hatfield, MA, with his wife and daughter.

Highlights

• Legal committee member for the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
• Sued the Massachusetts State Police in a suit that is credited for pushing the needle in favor of legalization in Massachusetts.
• Commonwealth v. Overmyer – As amicus curiae in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, successfully argued that the odor unburnt marijuana alone does not constitute probable cause to search a vehicle.
• Commonwealth v. Canning – As amicus curiae in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, successfully argued that for purposes of obtaining a search warrant, police are required to ascertain that an individual suspected of cultivating marijuana does not have a lawful medical marijuana license and a “cultivation registration” that would authorize such activity, or must provide facts at least supporting an inference of the same.
• Commonwealth v. Gerhardt - As amicus curiae in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, successfully argued that standard field sobriety tests, as used by a majority of police officers, was designed solely to indicate alcohol intoxication, not marijuana intoxication. The standard field sobriety tests were the result of studies done by the Department of Transportation in the 70’s and 80’s, and were designed to indicate level of alcohol intoxication fairly accurately, not marijuana.
• Downing v. DPH – Represented the plaintiff in his lawsuit against the Department of Health, arguing that until medical marijuana dispensaries open in Massachusetts, people such as the Plaintiff may distribute marijuana to unlimited qualified medical marijuana patients. This case received national attention.
• Commonwealth v. DOE – Successfully argued that once qualified medical marijuana patients present police required evidence of their status, police are not allowed to further investigate situation unless there is independent evidence of probable cause or reasonable of a crime or civil violation.
• Commonwealth v. DOE – In a district court case, successfully argued that hashish is covered under the medical marijuana law, because hashish is a derivative of marijuana, and the statute allows for derivatives of marijuana to be used.
• Forfeiture cases – represented multiple clients in cases involving marijuana seizure by the government.
• Medical marijuana dispensaries – represented applicants for medical marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts.
• Medical marijuana caregivers – advised dozens of caregivers as their duties and responsibilities under the law, and helped caregivers implement plan of action.
• Legislative drafting – helped the draft the legislation that is now our cannabis law in Massachusetts.
• Speaker - Marvin regularly speaks on radio shows, rallies, and lectures, e.g., Bill Newman Show, Extravaganja, UMass - Know Your Rights.