Charles E. Feldmann is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of law firm Feldmann-Nagel, LLC: a full-service law firm with experienced attorneys and staff who represent businesses and individuals nationwide, and armed services members in military courts worldwide. Mr. Feldmann not only manages the firm’s various practice areas, but also overseas Feldmann-Nagel’s international cannabis practice, national and state wildlife defense, and the firm’s military justice international division. Feldmann-Nagel, LLC, is licensed throughout the United States, Israeli, and the United States International Military Courts.
Mr. Feldmann has earned his reputation as an aggressive courtroom litigator with “firepower in the courtroom” through his twenty-five years of legal experience. He has worked as a lecturer and instructor with the Department of Defense and with the National College of District Attorneys. Mr. Feldmann has taught prosecutor and defense counsel trial enhancement training at the Naval Justice School and was an adjunct professor at Colorado Mountain College in criminal and constitutional law.
He has given various talks on marijuana law, including speaking at the American Bar Association Annual Meeting in New York, August 2017, on “The Trajectory of Marijuana Law and How it Will Affect Your Legal Practice”. He spoke at the Marijuana Career Panel at the University of Denver Law Chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy in November 2016. He also spoke on “Texas Marijuana Laws and Interactions with Law Enforcement” at the Texas NORML Veterans Conference Legal Panel in Texas Capitol in October 2016.
Although well-established today representing entities in the cannabis industry, Mr. Feldmann started off his career enforcing the law. While in the United States Marine Corps, Mr. Feldmann served as a Federal Prosecutor and Federal Defense Attorney. In these positions, he conducted more than one-hundred criminal trials. From 1996-2001 Mr. Feldmann worked for the United States Drug Enforcement Division- State Drug Task Force as a Project Director, Force Commander, and Task Force Prosecutor. Mr. Feldmann also served as a Colorado Deputy District Attorney.
Using his background in law enforcement, Mr. Feldmann has represented Federal and State Law Enforcement officers, police officers, and Sherriff’s Deputies in criminal defense matters and law enforcement employment-related matters.
With the release of the “Ogden Memo” (then Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden’s formal guidelines for federal prosecutors in states that have enacted laws authorizing the use of medical marijuana), it was not until 2009 that Mr. Feldmann began offering advice in the legal marijuana industry. At the outset of his cannabis law practice, Mr. Feldmann’s advice primarily involved analyzing the federal risks for investors, landlords, and actual license holders, while also trying to assist these entities with managing the potential consequences.
As the rapidly emerging legal cannabis industry evolves and the federal risks have substantially decreased, Mr. Feldmann’s focus has shifted to advising his marijuana business clients on achieving and maintaining strict compliance with state-by-state rules and regulations. Mr. Feldmann’s background in law enforcement sets him apart because he offers a unique and rare expertise, which allows him to assist his clients in establishing strict regulatory compliance protocols at both the state and federal levels.
He has worked extensively with a variety of state agencies focused on enforcement, licensing, federal risk mitigation, and compliance. Mr. Feldmann has worked with marijuana clients in Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Massachusetts, Hawaii, and California. His expertise has caused state legislative branches to seek out his advice on new medical marijuana regulatory programs.
As a trusted advisor for marijuana business entities, Mr. Feldmann’s work encompasses: corporate operations; licensing; intellectual property; joint venture; transaction documentation; private placements/investor relations; rules and regulations at the city, county, and state levels; statutory authority; legislative and governmental relations; litigation involving intellectual property infringement; and partnership and enforcement appeals.
Keeping up with the clients’ constantly growing needs and sophistication is his top priority.
