Legal Question in Business Law in California

Remember attorney and former U.S. President, Bill Clinton's words - if you smoke, don't inhale. Other than that, if the business is legitimate, and you are just doing bookkeeping, there should not be any out-of-the-ordinary issues. Consult with an attorney in your area for specific advice. And watch out for second-hand smoke!

Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D. - Mr. Franchise

Franchise Attorney

As an outside bookkeeping service, you should be above criticism by law enforcement. Don't knowingly participate in anything illegal, whether it is falsifying a zoning variance application or dealing in illegal drugs for your own account, and I'd also suggest avoiding advancing too much capital to the proprietor in the form of services without timely payment of your fees. Perhaps my greatest concern for you, however, is whether you have the training and experience to keep books for a cooperative. If this is a true cooperative, you will have a heavy and perhaps unaccustomed responsibility to keep the members' accounts accurately. You should review some professional publications on accounting for cooperatives.

In my professional experience, the medical marijuana program has been abused and is being used in ways and manners that are vastly different than what was pitched to the voters to have the matter established by voter initiative. I originally voted for the program, and after the extensive litigation that I have been involved in, I would gladly go back in time and vote against it if that were physically possible. It is a thorny, controversial law. Police still arrest people for possession of marijuana even though they may be fully complying with the program. I suggest reading the California Attorney's guidline pamphlet at the following link:

http://www.ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/pdfs/n1601_medicalmarijuanaguidelines.pdf