Mollie Hartman Lustig – McLaughlin & Stern

Mollie Hartman Lustig is the Chair of McLaughlin and Stern’s Cannabis Practice Group. Mollie’s clients include cannabis business operators, management service operators, cannabis vendors and cannabis investors. Her practice focuses on providing regulatory, licensing (both State and Local), and business/transactional counsel to clients. Mollie has been a member of the NJSBA’s Cannabis Law Special Committee (“CLSC”) since 2017 and is serving as the Secretary of the Committee for the 2023-2024 year. Mollie is also the Co-Chair of the CLSC’s Social Justice and Equity Subcommittee, and sits on the CLSC’s Municipal and Land Use Sub-committee. She has been and continues to be an NJICLE lecturer, speaking on topics including Diversely Held Businesses, Municipal Approvals, Sustainability and Labor Peace Agreements, has been a guest lecturer at the Yale Club, and is a frequent presenter for NJ.com’s Cannabis Insider programming. Mollie is an instructor at Rutgers Law School Certificate for their Cannabis Law and Business Certificate Program;  and was an invted panelist at Howard University Law School, Human and Civil Rights Law Review’s 8th Annual C. Clyde Ferguson Symposium. Mollie was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in the area of Cannabis Law for 2022 and 2023; was named to the NJ Insider’s Top 100 Cannabis Power List (2022); and was recently awarded NJ.com’s 2023 Cannabis Award for Excellence in Cannabis Law: Municipal Law and nominated in the category of Excellence in Cannabis Law: Applications. She also brought home the award for Excellence in Cannabis Law for the Firm.

B.C. (before cannabis) Mollie practiced traditional civil litigation with a focus on labor and employment issues for governmental entities. Mollie has appeared before myriad vicinages and divisions of the New Jersey Superior Court, the Federal District Court for the District of New Jersey, the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission, and Office of Administrative Law. Mollie has been named as a Super Lawyers Rising Star since 2019 for her work in the Employment and Labor field. In addition to her government entity and Cannabis work, Mollie represents family clients in separation and divorce matters, custody issues, child support/alimony, paternity and adoption matters, etc., and was named to the 2021 Best Lawyers in America for her work in the area of Family Law.

Articles

• Dec 6, 2022: What are cannabis consumption lounges and when will we see them in N.J.? (msn.com)
• June 21, 2022: The Morristown Cannabis Licensing Process Raises Questions: The Morristown Cannabis Licensing Process Raises Questions (headynj.com)

Cases

• Sourland Provisions v. Borough of Hopewell – NJ Superior Court; Mercer County – MER-L-398-23; representing cannabis applicant in plaintiff’s Action in Lieu of Prerogative Writ brought to challenge the manner in which the local application process was administered, and answer questions of law concerning legislative intent (via an ordinance), and the policy and procedure of implementation by Borough; conflicts of interest questions for municipal officials
• The majority of my cases/matters are confidential and I do not have client approval to discuss them publicly. Please let me know if you would like me to supply you with a brief overview of some “hypothetical” situations I deal with.

Published/Unpublished Cases

• Superior Court of New Jersey – Appellate Division Docket No. A-3742-19 City of Union City, By and Through Alejandro Velazquez, as Public Officer v. Christopher Williams, Suez Water New Jersey, Inc., Public Service Electric and Gas Company, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Submitted March 14, 2023 – Decided June 2, 2023 Superior Court of New Jersey – Appellate Division Docket No. A-2813-13T4
• Martha Greenblatt and Martin Greenblatt v. Construction Board of Appeals, Jack Marold, Barry Van Horn, John Cilo, Jr., Steven Rodzinak, David Meyers, Howard Klein, and Borough of North Plainfield Submitted January 21, 2015 – Decided February 23, 2015 On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Somerset County, Docket No. L-1332-12 Superior Court Of New Jersey – Appellate Division Docket No. A-0
• Captain and Former Acting Chief Raymond Cox v. Jennifer Blumenthal, City Manager, and the City of Brigantine Submitted March 25, 2015 – Decided May 4, 2015 On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Atlantic County, Docket No. L-3514-13.

Socials

• LinkedIn