Neil Willner – Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld

Neil M. Willner is Co-chair of the Cannabis Group. He focuses his practice on the cannabis industry and provides counsel to hemp and marijuana companies across all parts of the supply chain on regulatory and compliance issues. Neil also handles regulatory compliance, investigatory due diligence, mergers and acquisitions, and litigation matters for firm clients. He advises buyers and sellers on regulatory considerations in mergers and acquisitions in many East Coast states.

Neil also serves on many cannabis-related trade association committees including the New York State Bar Association’s Cannabis Law Section, the International Cannabis Bar Association, and the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH). As Regulatory Counsel to ATACH, Neil helps create policy at the state and federal levels. He is working closely with the recently launched ATACH Cannabis Beverage Council to ensure beverages are permissible form factors in upcoming medical and recreational marijuana programs. Neil is also a prolific writer, co-authoring a chapter in the 2020 edition of Thomson Reuters Health Law Handbook, as well as a chapter in the American Health Law Association’s Health Care and the Business of Cannabis Questions and Answers book.

Neil also serves as a trusted expert to media outlets and has been quoted in articles published by the New York Times, the Village Voice, Forbes, and Lawyer.com.

Experience

• Working with multi-state cannabis operators on complex regulatory and compliance matters
• Hemp cultivators, processors, and innovators
• Cannabis trade associations and state legislatures and regulators on cannabis policy
• Risk management companies insuring the cannabis industry
• New York’s largest hospital networks
• Ecclesiastical institutions and school districts

Recognition

• Chambers & Partners USA, Associate to Watch, Nationwide Cannabis Law, 2022

Publications

• The Wheel is Turning and You Can’t Slow Down: An Update on the Tri-State of Cannabis – Cannabis Business Executive, April 21, 2022
• The Tip of the Spear Piercing the Regulated Cannabis Industry: How Intoxicating Hemp Cannabinoids and the Illicit Market Pose Significant Challenges to the Emerging Industry – Cannabis Business Executive, April 19, 2022
• Kick-starting New York’s Adult-Use Cannabis Program: Legislature Passes SB 8084 – RCCB Cannabis Group Alert, February 25, 2022
• Minors Loophole: Ambiguity In the Controlled Substances Act Leaves A Pathway for Intoxicating Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids – MJBiz Magazine, February 14, 2022

Social Media

• LinkedIn  – Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld
• LinkedIn  – Niel Willner
• Twitter – Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld
• Instagram – Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld