Benjamin L. Rackliffe is a Partner with Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O’Gara LLC and a member of the firm’s Corporate & Business, Cannabis Law and Nonprofit Organizations Teams. He is considered a leading authority in the areas of corporate and regulatory compliance, providing counsel in a wide range of areas to closely held business and tax-exempt organizations.
Building upon years of traditional corporate transactional experience, Attorney Rackliffe is at the forefront of advising businesses on the ever-evolving state and federal cannabis law and policy landscape in both medical and recreational markets throughout New England and elsewhere. Within the State of Rhode Island alone, Attorney Rackliffe has advised approximately two dozen licensed cultivation companies through real estate, licensing, regulatory compliance and investment related matters. Outside of Rhode Island, he routinely advises dispensary and cultivation operators, both publicly traded and private, including the owner of the largest outdoor cannabis cultivation on the east coast. In addition, he advises investors on risk mitigation measures within the cannabis space. His experience also includes representing clients in the nation’s burgeoning hemp industry. As a result of his achievements and skills in the area of cannabis law, Attorney Rackliffe has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® for the Providence/Metro Region since 2023. Attorney Rackliffe has also been named a Rhode Island Super Lawyers Rising Star by Thomson Reuters, a distinction that recognizes the top 2.5 percent of Rhode Island lawyers under the age of 40 or those in practice for 10 years or less.
In addition, Attorney Rackliffe has experience in the construction and engineering industries and in commercial real estate development, having previously served as assistant general counsel to a hospitality and real estate development corporation and as an attorney for a Rhode Island-based construction and engineering litigation firm representing multinational and U.S. contractor corporations. Attorney Rackliffe now uses this experience in advising developers, financing parties and institutional clients alike participating in renewable energy projects.
He earned his J.D. from Roger Williams University School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Providence College, where he has served as a Special Lecturer in the field of corporate law for the College’s School of Business. He is admitted to practice law in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, and is a member of the Rhode Island Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Connecticut Bar Association, the New York Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
