L.A. marijuana consultants settle legal battle – sort of

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A legal case between two competing Los Angeles cannabis consulting firms that appeared to be shaping up last year as a serious courtroom brawl has apparently come to a close.

Siva Enterprises filed suit last August against Cirrata Ventures and several of the company’s principals, alleging the Cirrata executives stole intellectual property and defamed Siva CEO Avis Bulbulyan.

Cirrata then filed counterclaims in the fall.

But all the legal claims were dismissed in January after the two sides reached a settlement.

According to court records, the original lawsuit and the counterclaims were dismissed Jan. 28 in U.S. District Court’s Central District of California.

Bulbulyan, who said he felt vindicated by the result, shared a copy of the settlement agreement with Marijuana Business Daily.

He noted that a provision in the agreement requires Cirrata to dissolve within 90 days, a deadline Bulbulyan said is April 22.

But Steve Baghoomian, one of the founders of Cirrata and a defendant named in Bulbulyan’s original suit, disputed Bulbulyan’s claim that Cirrata is closing up shop.

“I can assure you Cirrata is not out of business, nor will it be out of business in 90 days,” Baghoomian wrote in an email to MJBizDaily.

“I don’t know where Avis got this idea. All I can disclose is that we are in discussions with third parties to spin off certain verticals of Cirrata, which by the very nature of those transactions may require a corporate reorganization.

“Again, to be crystal clear, this does not mean Cirrata is going out of business. Any assertion to the contrary is comical to us.”

Bulbulyan responded: “They have until April 22 to shut it down. Not spin it off into something else, not reorganize, but to shut it down. Anything short of that and they’re in breach” of the settlement agreement.

If a breach of the settlement agreement occurs, the parties could wind up back in court.

More details about this situation are available here and here.

John Schroyer can be reached at johns@mjbizdaily.com