Cannabis Photo: Canna Obscura/Shuttestock.com

Los Angeles-based cannabis holding company Shryne Group Inc. has hired its former outside counsel at Arent Fox to serve as the startup firm's top lawyer. 

John Malone, an expert on corporate governance and regulatory compliance, joins Shryne as general counsel after having helped several cannabis startups make sense of a complex regulatory environment while he was in private practice. 

Shryne was founded earlier this year and has operations in California, Nevada and Washington. The company plans to expand to Michigan soon and eventually establish distribution networks in more than 60 countries. 

As an associate at Arent Fox's office in Washington, D.C., Malone served as a general counsel to new and established firms. His practice focused on mergers and acquisitions, finance and commercial transactions, including product distribution, intellectual property licenses and software agreements, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

"Shryne Group is building the most valuable cannabis enterprise in the world," Malone said in a written statement issued Thursday. "And I am proud to be part of building something that will live on for generations."

Attempts to speak with Malone or a Shryne representative were not immediately successful.

The firm's CEO and co-founder, Brian Mitchell, said in a prepared statement that Malone is "one of the best in the industry in the areas of corporate compliance and cannabis law."

He added Malone's "experience navigating the constantly evolving regulated cannabis industry will ensure compliance and corporate governance are strictly adhered to at Shryne Group."

Prior to his four-year stint with Arent Fox, Malone served as GC and vice president of compliance and quality assurance for WTS International, a Rockville, Maryland-based firm that focuses on spa, leisure and lifestyle consulting and management. He negotiated international commercial agreements, oversaw compliance matters related to the firm's market expansion, and had oversight of a human resources department with 2,000 employees worldwide. 

He began his law career in 2011 as an associate at Roeder, Cochran & Haight, after having served as a litigation assistant at McDermott Will & Emery and as assistant to the general counsel of Hendricks Investment Holdings and its professional women's soccer team, the Washington Freedom.

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