Global Top 200 Cannabis Lawyers
Directory 2025/26
Welcome to the 6th edition of the Global Top 200 cannabis lawyers 2025-2026 published by Cannabis Law Report & Cannabis Law Journal.
We have compiled the lawyers and law firms we believe to be the top 200 cannabis practitioners and practices around the world via our annual survey of clients and lawyers in the cannabis legal services sector, this research is combined with our personal editorial decisions based on our daily reporting for the past decade or so. Read More
Thank you, Sean Hocking – Editor: The Global Top 200 Cannabis Lawyers
Top 200 Cannabis Lawyers – Plus Profiles 2025/2026
Jason Adelstone – Harris Sliwoski
Jason Adelstone is a seasoned business lawyer, international policy advisor, and problem solver. Based in Denver, Colorado, he provides domestic and international legal counsel to a diverse clientele, including entrepreneurs, corporations, religious organizations, and federal and international cannabis operators. His practice spans corporate law, international policy, and cannabis regulatory compliance, helping clients navigate the complexities of the global cannabis industry and beyond. A recognized authority in the U.S. on international ...
Craig Small – Clark Hill
Craig Small has more than 17 years of experience practicing cannabis law and litigation. His main practice areas include M&A transactions, intellectual property protection, and regulatory compliance but his work with domestic and international cannabis clients has allowed him to assist them in a variety of additional legal issues they face such as real estate transactions, labor and employment issues, and litigation. Craig also serves as Vice-Chair of the firm’s ...
Thomas Howard – Howard Law Group
Thomas Howard became a stockbroker after law school in 2008. The next year, he became licensed to practice law in Illinois and began a complex financial litigation practice with community banks and private equity funds as his clients. In 2010, he wrote a book about the nation’s cannabis laws and began building an online audience that has grown to the hundreds of thousands. By 2015, Illinois had legalized cannabis and ...
Sean J. McGowan – Kaufman McGowan PLLC
Sean J. McGowan represents emerging growth, middle market and public companies and investment firms in their corporate, securities, financing, borrowing, merger & acquisition and other legal matters. Mr. McGowan is: President of the Columbian Lawyers’ Association of Suffolk County. Secretary of the Confederation of Columbian Lawyers of New York State. Member of the Columbian Lawyers’ Association of Nassau County. Member of the New York State Bar Association and its Cannabis ...
Rod Kight – Kight on Cannabis
Rod Kight is a cannabis business law attorney. Based in North Carolina and Mexico, Rod represents legal cannabis businesses throughout the world and is editor and chief writer of the Kight On Cannabis law blog (www.kightoncannabis.com). Rod is the author of “Cannabis Business Law-What You Need to Know”, published by Aspatore Books in August 2015. He has served on the advisory board and written a legal column for the American ...
Chelsie Spencer – Ritter Spencer Cheng, PLLC
Forbes Magazine dubbed Chelsie Spencer the “rare friendly face in the midst of a cutthroat CBD hurricane, the person you want on speed dial when things turn sour” for her work in the cannabidiol (CBD) industry. As head of the cannabis practice at Ritter Spencer PLLC, Chelsie represents clients in every facet of the cannabis and hemp industries, including dispensaries, growers, processors, manufacturers, retailers, and more for their business needs ...
Shay Aaron Gilmore – The Law Office of Shay Aaron Gilmore
Shay Aaron Gilmore is a leading cannabis business attorney in California and a recognized expert in corporate and commercial transactions throughout the cannabis supply chain. Shay works exclusively with cannabis operators and investors on regulatory, administrative law, real estate, land use, corporate, labor & employment, and intellectual property matters, providing advice and counsel honed to protect and expand access to cannabis. Shay has been recognized by The Los Angeles/San Francisco ...
Jeffrey Hoffman
Jeffrey Hoffman is a cannabis attorney and legalization activist with over 25 years of experience starting, operating, advising, and selling businesses. His legal practice focuses entirely on cannabis, including licensees in the adult-use cannabis market, patients and practitioners in the medical cannabis space, and cannabis adjacent product and service providers. He has a particular interest in justice involved individuals as well as social and economic equity cannabis license applicants. In ...
Shannett Thompson – Kingsley Napley LLP
Shannett Thompson is a Partner in the Regulatory Team at Kingsley Napley. She started her legal career, working in HMRC, Insolvency Team, ahead of her training contract in the NHS. Shannett provides specialist regulatory advice across a number of sectors, including professional services. Her diverse client base includes businesses, care homes, regulators, professional bodies, students, and individuals. She is adept at working across a number of regulatory schemes. Given she ...
Richard Y. Cheng – Ritter Spencer Cheng, PLLC
Richard Y. Cheng, a managing member at Ritter Spencer Cheng PLLC and brings a wealth of experience and expertise in corporate transactions, regulatory, compliance matters, specifically to the cannabis and healthcare industries. Through his traditional healthcare practice, Richard ventured into the cannabis industry in 2013. His contributions to the cannabis industry have been significant, representing a variety of clients (e.g. cultivators, investors, manufacturers, retailers, healthcare providers, third-party business) and earning ...
Benjamin M. Rattner – Cermele & Wood LLP
Benjamin M. Rattner leads the cannabis practice at his law firm, Cermele & Wood LLP. He represents pre-operational and operational clients throughout the cannabis and hemp industries, along with numerous ancillary businesses. Ben routinely negotiates leases and land deals, drafts licensing and purchase agreements, and drafts the documentation necessary to form and operate cannabis businesses. He also counsels clients about brand protection, marketing, and advertising. Ben uses his background as ...
Samantha Myers – Reed Smith
Samantha is a partner in Reed Smith’s Global Corporate Group who focuses on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and equity capital markets. Samantha has extensive experience of acting for companies and their advisers on IPOs and secondary transactions both on AIM and on the main market of the London Stock Exchange and on transactions involving the Toronto and Australian exchanges. She regularly advises on a range of domestic and cross-border ...
Courtney N. Moran – EARTH Law, LLC
Courtney N. Moran, LL.M., Founding Principal of EARTH Law, LLC, and Chief Legislative Strategist for Agricultural Hemp Solutions, LLC, has a passion for policy reform and precedent-setting. She liaised with the offices of Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) in drafting and negotiating the Hemp Farming Act of 2018, the language in the 2018 Farm Bill federally legalizing hemp in the United States. Courtney is a highly accomplished ...
Andrew DeWeese
Andrew DeWeese is a high stakes business trial lawyer, based in Portland, Oregon, and practicing throughout Oregon, frequently in Jackson and Josephine Counties. DeWeese has litigated hundreds of matters over the course of his distinguished career, with special emphasis on shareholder and partnership disputes and other complex commercial litigation. He has tried both jury and bench trials to verdict and has an enviable record of wins in private arbitration. He ...
Susan Burns – S Burns Legal PLLC
With more than 30 years of experience, Susan Burns has forged a career as a no-nonsense business lawyer and global development consultant helping businesses in growth mode tactically use legal strategies to meet their needs. Serving a broad range of industries, Susan has been a partner to businesses tackling the burgeoning cannabis industry since the outset, supporting processors, manufacturers and retailers. She has also worked extensively with psychotherapy and health-related ...
Peter Homberg – In Memoriam
Peter Homberg, who joined international law firm gunnercooke at the beginning of this year, specializes in life sciences, IP and corporate law, and M&A transactions. He particularly advises companies in the pharmaceutical, diagnostics, medical device and biotechnology sectors on research and development contracts, collaboration agreements, cross-border IP licensing and IP strategies. He also has extensive experience in advising on compliance issues and advises companies extensively in the field of medical ...
Alexander Buscher – Buscher Law LLC
Alex Buscher founded Buscher Law LLC in 2018 to provide legal advice to cannabis & hemp companies in Colorado and quickly realized most lawyers, bankers, and insurance companies were still not willing to take a risk on the legalized industry. This led to an expansion of practice areas in-house and an in-depth understanding of a wide array of separate yet interconnected areas of the law including business, real estate, asset ...
Dr. Atthachai Homhuan – Tilleke & Gibbins
Dr. Atthachai Homhuan is one of Thailand’s leading experts on the law regulating cannabis and other hemp-related products. A licensed attorney with a PhD in Pharmaceutical Technology, Dr. Atthachai is sought after by the world’s leading cannabis companies to advise on all aspects of establishing and operating their business in Thailand. Since the liberalization of cannabis laws in Thailand in 2019, he has assisted numerous clients at various stages of ...
Lauren Rudick – Rudick Law Group
Lauren Rudick is a prominent figure in the cannabis legal landscape, known for her leadership as the Founder and Managing Principal of the Rudick Law Group, with offices in New York City, Jersey City, and Latin America. With extensive experience in cannabis and hemp law and regulations, Rudick has played a pivotal role in advising and representing clients nationwide within the rapidly evolving cannabis industry and ancillary industries, including agriculture ...
Daniel Rathner – Indicated Legal
Daniel Rathner is the founder and Director of Indicated Legal based in Melbourne, Australia. Daniel works with many businesses across the supply chain, including sponsors, cultivators, manufacturers, importers, distributors, medical practitioners and clinics, pharmacists and testing laboratories. Offering practical and strategic advice, Daniel assists his clients throughout the life of their enterprises, from corporate structuring and establishment, licensing, commercial contracts and deal flow through to corporate governance, regulatory compliance and ...
Ricardo Geada – Irwin Mitchell
Ricardo Geada is a regulatory partner advising UK and international businesses on compliance, investigations and market access, with a particular focus on the legal cannabis sector (medical and CBD wellness), vaping and other consumer products. I also have worked on matters pertaining to crypto/digital assets. Ricardos centres on designing compliant routes to market, navigating regulator scrutiny, and managing risk across the UK, EU and multi‑jurisdictional projects. Before joining Irwin Mitchell, ...
Neil M. Kaufman – Kaufman McGowan PLLC
Neil M. Kaufman, is the managing member of Kaufman McGowan PLLC, Corporate & Securities Counsel to the Cannabis Industry™ and one of the leading corporate cannabis law firms in New York and the USA. He combines over 40 years of practicing corporate and securities law at the highest levels with 10 years of extensive cannabis industry experience. Mr. Kaufman represents a wide variety of cannabis companies and investors in their ...
Tom Zuber – Zuber Lawler LLP
Tom Zuber, recognized by Chambers USA, is a founder and the Managing Partner of Zuber Lawler. In addition to personally managing relationships with more than 10 of the firm’s Fortune 1000 clients, as well as funds and government entities, Mr. Zuber has been representing leading cannabis clients since 2006. He’s represented cannabis companies in litigation, deals, IP, and regulatory matters across the country as well as internationally. Mr. Zuber is ...
Luke S Zimmerman – Law Office of Luke S Zimmerman
Here at the Law Office of Luke S Zimmerman APC we believe in addressing our client’s issues by listening to their concerns, then evaluating the best manner to address the problem, and lastly offering a reasonable resolution that can be implemented with as much ease as possible. Whether it be forming a new business, registering a trademark, or navigating the confusing issues when developing a cannabis brand, the Law Office ...
Andrew Cooper – Falcon Rappaport & Berkman
After spending most of his over 30 years of practice as a trial and transactional attorney, handling primarily intellectual property, commercial litigation, and healthcare matters, and as General Counsel representing companies in markets such as salty snacks (as General Counsel for Robert’s American Gourmet, the manufacturer and distributor of the iconic “Pirate’s Booty”) and beer, wine and liquor (representing BH Group, the manufacturer and distributor of “Notorious Pink”), Andrew pivoted ...
Courtney Barnes, Esq – Feldman Legal Advisors
Courtney Barnes is a Partner at Feldman Legal Advisors PLLC and adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law. Courtney specializes in advising clients on regulatory compliance, risk management, and strategic operational matters relating to the production and distribution of highly regulated compounds in emerging industries. Her legal expertise includes providing bespoke regulatory compliance guidance, including licensing, distribution, and advertising strategy to consumer-packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers, retailers, and ...
David Feldman – Feldman Legal Advisors
David Feldman concentrates his law practice on corporate and securities law and mergers and acquisitions, as well as general representation of public and private companies, entrepreneurs, investors, and private equity and venture capital firms. David has represented a wide range of clients in the legal cannabis and psychedelics industries since 2013. He provides guidance on private placements, public offerings, loan structuring and fund formation for cannabis companies, as well as ...
Marie Sanchez – Nooa Avocats
Marie Sanchez advises clients in the life sciences sector (including clients in the pharmaceutical, medical devices, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, food supplements and veterinary drugs sectors) by offering bespoke guidance on regulatory issues, litigation and contractual matters. She also has an extensive practice in the cannabis sector, advising clients on regulatory and strategic issues related to both the medical cannabis and wellness hemp markets in France and representing them in commercial litigations ...
Robert Jappie – Field Fisher
Robert Jappie is a Partner in Fieldfisher LLP’s Regulatory Group. He specialises in Life Sciences Regulation for the UK and Europe, providing advice and representation to a range of nascent industries in the Life Sciences sector. Robert businesses operating in highly regulated industries across the Life Sciences sector, with a particular focus on Cannabis Healthcare, Plant-Based Therapies, Vaping, Food/Agri-Tech and Regulated Substances. Robert's practice focuses on Risk and Regulatory intervention, ...
Aaron Pelley – Gleam Law
Aaron Pelley is a pioneering attorney and Partner at Gleam Law, widely recognized as a trailblazer in cannabis and psychedelic law. With nearly 20 years of experience, he has been instrumental in drafting key legislation and establishing legal frameworks for emerging markets and high-risk industries. A Top 100 Trial Lawyer and multi-year "Super Lawyer," Aaron is a sought-after speaker whose legal insights have been featured in The New York Times, Vice News, and Newsweek. He currently serves ...
Mitchel C. Chargo – Hinshaw
Mitchel Chargo represents clients in a wide array of matters related to the state of Minnesota's newly enacted adult recreational use cannabis program, including regulatory and compliance matters, licensing, financing, commercial real estate, and corporate governance. He also represents a Native American entity in a Native American medicinal cannabis program and adult recreational use program, as well as clients in the hemp industry, including manufacturers of hemp products. Prior to ...
Larissa Mößmer – Osborne Clarke
Larissa Moessmer advises national and international companies on all aspects of intellectual property, competition and health regulatory law. She specialises in the extrajudicial and judicial enforcement and defence of claims under competition law, trademark law and design law. Another focus of her legal practice lies in the life sciences and healthcare sector. She has special expertise in the field of health regulatory law and health advertising law as well as ...
Alan Adcock – Tilleke & Gibbins
Alan Adcock is a partner in the Tilleke & Gibbins intellectual property and regulatory affairs groups, helping to oversee the firm’s client work in these areas across Southeast Asia. With deep expertise in life sciences regulation, Alan is a key advisor to clients in the cannabis, pharmaceutical, and industrial sectors, guiding them through complex legal landscapes involving product registration, clinical trials, labeling, advertising, and import/export compliance. Alan has played a ...
Janet E. Jackim – Fennemore
Janet Jackim, who received the AV-Preeminent® Rating from Martindale-Hubbell®, focuses on real estate acquisitions and leasing; equity and debt financing; loan workouts; and cannabis acquisitions, dispositions, and other deals. Ms. Jackim supplements her legal insight with advanced technical, operational and financial acumen particular to the cannabis industry. Her problem-solving creativity aids in resolving complex issues for her rapidly-expanding cannabis clients. Ms. Jackim is particularly well-versed in the cannabis space. She ...
Sean Maloney – Indicated Legal
As Special Counsel at Indicated Legal, Sean helps clients in the cannabis, hemp and psychedelics industries navigate complex legal landscapes with clear, practical, and commercially focused advice. Drawing on in-depth industry knowledge, Sean provides tailored, end-to-end legal solutions that reflect the unique regulatory and commercial challenges faced by these sectors. With experience as a former senior regulator at the ASX, Sean brings deep insight into the ASX Listing Rules, the ...
Daniel Haymann – MME
Daniel Haymann specialises in corporate and commercial law. Thanks to his extensive business experience, he has a good sense for new markets and understands the requirements for market launch and scale-up strategies. As an interdisciplinary and hands-on advisor, his focus is on investments, venture capital and financing transactions as well as regulatory issues in the healthcare and consumer goods sectors. He has been advising investors, start-ups, and vertically integrated companies ...
Top 200 Cannabis Lawyers – Full List
gunnercooke
gunnercooke is the fastest growing corporate law firm in the UK, now making its mark globally. We comprise a rapidly growing number of experts spanning legal and other disciplines. Clients benefit from flexible options on fees to suit their needs, access to a wider network of senior experts throughout the relationship, and legal advice which is complemented by an understanding of the commercial aspects of running a business. The gunnercooke ...
Commended
Dr. Paulo Thiessen
Missionary and Legal Director of the Cannabis Without Borders Movement, lawyer of the Cannabis Without Borders Association, member of Cannabis Sans Frontières, President of Santo Amor – World Movement for Cannabis Freedom Club, Administrative Director of ACURA – Association for the Support of Cannabis Research and Patients, member of ENCOD – the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies, and of the Cannabis Embassy. Also acts as a speaker, ...
