“I’d tried the application myself for two weekends. She put it in an order the reviewer could follow and told me which two letters I needed from my landlord.”
Orla K.Cultivation license applicant
Cannabis licensing and startup law in Boulder
Do the exciting part.
I’ll do the paperwork.
I’m Malaika Thornquist, a business lawyer for Boulder founders and cannabis operators. License applications, company setup, founder agreements and the contracts in between, with the fee in writing before I start.
Practice areas
Three jobs founders hire me for
Cannabis operators and software founders sit in the same waiting rooms. Both are building something the rules haven’t caught up with.
Cannabis licenses
New applications, ownership changes and renewals, built as one packet where every document agrees with the others.
Licensing workStartup setup
The company, the founder agreement and the equity split, written so you can explain it to an investor in one page.
Setting up a companyCounsel on call
Contracts, leases, hiring paperwork and the day a partner stops answering email. One lawyer you can text before you sign.
How the retainer works
Who you’ll work with
No associate in the middle
Most small firms sell you a partner and hand you to a paralegal. Here the lawyer on your first call is the lawyer who drafts, files and sits across from the other side.
I keep the practice small on purpose, so I can read your whole file before every call and tell you plainly when a job needs someone else.
Malaika Thornquist
Attorney, Flatiron Law
How it works
What your first month looks like
- 01
Intro call
Thirty minutes on the phone or video. You tell me the plan; I tell you what it needs and what it can wait on.
- 02
Scope and fee
A one-page engagement letter: what I’ll do, what it costs and what agencies or filers charge on top.
- 03
The work
Drafts come to you in plain language, with notes in the margin. You decide; I revise.
- 04
Hand-off
You get a folder with every signed paper and a short list of dates to put in your calendar.
Clients
What owners say afterward
“We were three friends splitting equity on a napkin. Now there’s a one-page summary of who owns what and what happens if someone leaves.”
Bastien L.Co-founder, a software company
“Every contract I’d signed lived in an email thread. She read them all, named the three that could hurt me and fixed those first.”
Zadie F.Owner, a commercial kitchen
Sample reviews. Each client’s case is different, and these don’t predict the result of yours.
Questions
Questions that come in before the call
Do you take cannabis clients?
Yes, for licensing and business work: applications, ownership structure, leases and contracts. Cannabis is still a federally controlled substance, so I explain what that means for your bank, insurance, taxes and plans before you commit money.
What happens on the intro call?
You describe what you’re building and what’s coming up: a deadline, a lease, an investor. I tell you what the job involves, what I’d do first and roughly what it costs.
How are fees set?
Defined jobs, like a company setup or a license packet, get a fixed fee. Open-ended work is hourly or a monthly retainer. It’s all in the engagement letter before work begins. Filing and agency fees are paid to the agency and aren’t part of my fee.
I’m a founder with no money yet. Where do I start?
With the one document that would hurt most if it were missing, usually the founder agreement. We do that first and leave the rest until you’re ready for it.
What if my partner and I disagree?
I can act for the company or for one of you, not both sides. I tell you which at the start, and if you each need your own lawyer, I say so.
License window or term sheet coming up?
Tell me the date and I’ll tell you what has to happen before it.
An intro call doesn’t make us lawyer and client. Fees for any work are agreed in writing first.