I AM Trustees & Advisors
Charlotte Caldwell
Charlotte Is the mother of Billy, the epileptic boy who changed the UK law on medical cannabis and was the first patient to be prescribed the medicine by the NHS.
Charlotte’s sixteen year journey , to keep her little boy alive spans from Northern Ireland to London , Chicago , California and Canada creating history and a legacy that has changed the lives of thousands. Charlotte founded the I am Billy Foundation in the hope that this must never ever happen to another patient and believes if we do their future will be our past. She says there have been times that I have felt helpless, defeated, exhausted, and desperate. What I have never felt, though, is that giving up was ever an option”.
Stephen Oliver
Steve is a former HM Customs and Excise Officer, involved in a wide sphere of work, from becoming a Civil Service Accredited Teacher/Trainer to receiving Commendations for Bravery in Undercover Work. During that time Steve assumed various legal roles including representing HMRC at Magistrates courts and in a leading role in a number of high-profile prosecutions. He spent some six years as an investigator in London and the UK before leaving in 2000.
After leaving his Government role, Steve moved to KPMG, where he was later to head-up their Producer Responsibility – European Environment Law Team (2000 – 2005), advising clients including Sony, Harley Davidson, Manchester United and Booker.
Steve left KPMG to set up his own business and to read for a Degree, where he proved academically gifted, receiving the 14 “subject prizes” while an undergraduate, culminating in the award of the Academy Prize and the Quantum LLP Prize (each in 2010). Steve has worked as a visiting lecturer for both undergraduate and post graduate master’s students specialising in Business Law, Employment law, Contract law and European law. In 2011 he became a member of the National Association of Licensed Paralegals (NALP).
Thereafter, Steve set up his own business consultancy service and entered the Cannabinoid space in 2016. Stephen has extensive contacts across the globe within the industry and has experience in cultivation, extraction and processing. He has advised on cultivation, extraction, manufacturing as well as product development, testing and regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions. An accomplished public speaker he is regularly requested to provide KeyNote Speeches at industry events and dissect complex regulatory frameworks for both industry specialists and the public. He is the other Co-founder of The Canna Consultants.
Matthew Lawson
Matt was Called to the Bar in 1995. Prior to being Called, and for a period afterwards, he worked in The City for Kleinwort Benson, an Investment Bank. Following successful completion of the Bar Vocational Course and thereafter Pupillage he gained a Tenancy at Chambers in London, from where he has practiced ever since.
Initially his practice encompassed all Common Law areas but, in common with the rest of the Bar, over time the areas in which he practiced have diminished as his focus on specialist areas has increased. Therefore, for the vast majority of his time at the Bar his practice has centred on the area of “Regulatory Law” encompassing a number of professional fields, with some associated spin-off practice in linked areas.
Expanding discussions in respect of the “medicalization” and perceived “de-criminalisation” of cannabis and cannabinoids led Matt along with Steve to engage with this aspect of the regulatory world – leaving aside the “man on the street”, it was clear that market participants in the space were failing to understand what was being proposed, what market activities they were permitted to undertake and what they were permitted to say about such activities.
In short, we saw a market opportunity which did not involve traditional “legal advice” or “legal services”, but business advice which was given by someone with an understanding of the regulatory regime which was likely to be put in place in order for market participants to maximise their potential.
Often to be seen Chairing international conferences Matt applies his advocacy skills to panels and has spoken globally to the Cannabis Industry.
To that end, along with Steve Oliver, he formed The Canna Consultants as a Business Facilitation Consultancy. Since its formation matters have expanded so that we are currently working with Jurisdictions who wish to place themselves at the center of the world cannabinoid market, of which the Isle of Man is one.
Leigh Fell
Clinical Research Lead
An experienced clinical research manager with a broad range of experience in both commercial and academic environments. Leigh gained extensive experience in oncology and has since brought that expertise to the neurology field, overseeing multicentre clinical trials in a variety of indications from epilepsy and degenerative disease to major depressive disorders and schizophrenia. Leigh has direct experience of working with controlled and psychedelic substances including cannabinoids, ketamine and psilocybin.
