Global Top 200 Cannabis Lawyers 2021-2021 Archive

The Global Top 200 Editorially Selected Cannabis Legal Professionals  2021-2022. Featured cannabis legal professionals from jurisdictions around the world. View Current Edition

Top 200 Cannabis Lawyers – Plus 2020/21

Aaron Pelley – Cultiva Law

Aaron Pelley – Cultiva Law

Aaron Pelley is a veritable celebrity in both his achievements as a lawyer, and advocate of cannabis business for over a decade. Having made sizable contributions to the foundation of legal protections surrounding medicinal cannabis law, his passion in this new realm of law drove him forward. This saw the creation of Cultiva and the subsequent creation of a boutique law firm that lies on the pulse of current cannabis ...
Alexander Buscher - Buscher Law LLC

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 ...
Chelsie Spencer – Ritter Spencer Cheng, PLLC

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 ...
Daniel Haymann - MME

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 ...
David Feder - Weed Law

David Feder – Weed Law

I’m a New York and New Jersey licensed business and litigation attorney assisting clients with transactions, start ups, contracts, dispute resolution and virtually all areas of the cannabis industry, including securing competitive business licenses. Since 2010 I have represented clients involved in complex lawsuits, transactions, business partnerships and acquisitions. I solve challenging problems and manage complex projects independently or as part of teams with other c-level executives, attorneys and/or other ...
David Feldman - Feldman Legal Advisors

David Feldman – Feldman Legal Advisors

David N. 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 ...
David Holland - Prince Lobel Tye LLP

David Holland – Prince Lobel Tye LLP

David C. Holland is a partner and a member of Prince Lobel’s Business Litigation and Cannabis practice groups. David is a highly sought-after civil and criminal litigation attorney who has an extensive background in representing a broad range of stakeholders in the cannabis industry.  He is the Executive and Legal Director of Empire State NORML, the New York State affiliate of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws ...
Dr Paul Crosio - Silk Legal

Dr Paul Crosio – Silk Legal

Paul is a highly experienced legal practitioner who specializes in corporate, labor, and administrative law. Over the past 25 years, Paul has been based in a number of countries across the Asia-Pacific region and has worked with a variety of different multinational corporations including Emerald Advisory LLC, MCI-Worldcom, Citibank, Telstra International, and LG-Philips Electronics, among others. Paul holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Technology in Sydney, ...
Dr. Atthachai Homhuan  –  Tilleke & Gibbins

Dr. Atthachai Homhuan – Tilleke & Gibbins

As director of the regulatory affairs department at Tilleke & Gibbins, Dr. Atthachai Homhuan leads the firm’s cannabis team. He helps agriculture, life sciences, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, cosmetics and herbal products, and cannabis clinic and dispensary companies understand Thailand’s ongoing legal reforms for cannabis business activities, and advises some of the world’s leading cannabis companies on a wide range of business operations and strategy for product registrations, technology transfer, ...
James K Landau - Prince Lobel Tye LLP

James K Landau – Prince Lobel Tye LLP

Jim Landau is a partner and a member of  the firm’s Business Litigation and Cannabis practice groups.  Jim represents clients in litigation before Federal, New York State and Local courts and other tribunals, including arbitration and mediation before the American Arbitration Association. Jim’s practice also focuses on providing day-to-day business counseling to cannabis and other businesses with an eye toward avoiding problems before they arise.  Jim has become a thought ...
Janet E. Jackim - Zuber Lawler LLP

Janet E. Jackim – Zuber Lawler LLP

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 ...
Jonathan Storper – Hanson Bridgett

Jonathan Storper – Hanson Bridgett

Jonathan Storper leads the firm’s Cannabis Law practice, and since California’s legalization of marijuana in 2018 has worked with cannabis companies and their investors in connection with business transactions, including formation, local and state licensing, finance, contracts, licenses, joint venture and development, mergers and acquisitions, licensing, e-commerce, technology-related matters and general corporate law. Jonathan recently represented cannabis companies in large financing and M&A transactions that include publicly traded companies from ...
Joseph Bondy  - The Law Offices of Joseph A. Bondy

Joseph Bondy – The Law Offices of Joseph A. Bondy

The Law Offices of Joseph A. Bondy is a cannabis business, cannabis licensing, and criminal defense law firm, located in New York City. Mr. Bondy represents numerous individuals and corporations in the adult-use cannabis and hemp industry, and defends clients in complex criminal cases, in both the federal and state courts. Mr. Bondy is admitted to practice law in the State of New York, the United States District Courts for ...
Kai-Friedrich Niermann

Kai-Friedrich Niermann

Kai has been a business and corporate lawyer in Germany since 2003, gaining wide range of experiences in the process. He is very familiar with the interconnectivity between national and European regulations, especially in regard to consumer protection, product safety and emerging new cannabis products. He has engaged in advocacy relating to cannabis beginning in early stages of his studies at Philipps University Marburg when the German Supreme Court ruled ...
Laura Cardeño

Laura Cardeño

Laura Cardeño has been working in cannabis practice. She specializes in contracts and is a magister in commercial law, with knowledge in regulatory matters in the cannabis industry and advises investors, start-ups, and vertically integrated companies throughout the value chain. Before on board the cannabis industry, she gained over 11 years of experience in developing infrastructure and agroindustry projects in sectors such as oil, gas, and biofuels on base sugar ...
Lisa L. Pittman, Esq Pittman Legal

Lisa L. Pittman, Esq Pittman Legal

Lisa Pittman focuses on litigation, regulatory compliance, and corporate matters. Throughout Ms. Pittman’s 25-year career, she has litigated and tried disputes relating to labor & employment, breach of contract, commercial banking, fraud, fiduciary duty, construction defect and injury, deceptive trade practices, premises liability, professional liability, and products liability. She also possesses extensive expertise in complex commercial insurance coverage matters, having both defended insurance companies and advocated for policy holders in ...
Michael R Ross  -  Prince Lobel Tye LLP

Michael R Ross – Prince Lobel Tye LLP

Michael P. Ross brings his experience to solving complex problems and bringing disparate parties together in his focus on commercial real estate, and strategic advice. Mike served for 14 years as a Boston City Councilor, and was President of the body from 2009 to 2010. In 2013, he entered the race for mayor, sharing a bold vision for the city’s future. Mike’s legal practice has focused on the successful permitting ...
Neil M. Kaufman - Kaufman McGowan PLLC

Neil M. Kaufman – Kaufman McGowan PLLC

Neil M. Kaufman, is the managing member of Kaufman McGowan PLLC, Corporate & Securities Counsel to the State-Legal Cannabis Industry™ and one of the leading corporate cannabis law firms in New York and the USA.  He combines over 35 years of practicing corporate and securities law at the highest levels with 9+ years of extensive cannabis industry experience.  Mr. Kaufman represents a wide variety of cannabis companies (including several of ...
Neil Willner - Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld

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 ...
Nicola Finnerty - Kingsley Napley

Nicola Finnerty – Kingsley Napley

Nicola is a leading criminal defence expert in white collar and business crime, general criminal defence, and proceeds of crime and asset forfeiture. Nicola advises corporates and individuals (both in the UK and overseas) on cannabis investment in particular in respect of the UK Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 White Collar Crime, Business Crime, Fraud and Investigations Over the last 25 years she has been involved in many of the ...
Pamela Bubb - Webber Newdigate Attorneys

Pamela Bubb – Webber Newdigate Attorneys

Pamela Bubb is a partner and head of the Corporate and Commercial Department of Webber Newdigate Attorneys in Lesotho. Pamela focuses on commercial law and has a keen interest in cannabis matters. She and her team are involved in providing a broad range of commercial services including due diligence investigations, foreign exchange, advising international and local clients on cross-border taxation matters, along with drafting and vetting contracts. Pamela: Assists new ...
Peter Homberg – Dentons

Peter Homberg – Dentons

Peter Homberg is a partner in the Dentons Berlin office. He focuses on life sciences, IP, corporate law and M&A transactions in the life sciences and high-tech sector as well as in R&D and cooperation agreements, cross-border IP licensing and IP strategies. Furthermore, he has extensive experience providing legal advice on compliance issues. Additionally, he is the head of the European Cannabis sector group. Peter advises companies in the pharmaceutical, ...
Rachel Gillette - Holland & Hart

Rachel Gillette – Holland & Hart

A leading cannabis-focused lawyer, Rachel helps clients nationwide proactively plan and implement strategies to capitalize on strategic business opportunities. At the vanguard of the retail marijuana industry, Rachel leverages more than a decade of experience guiding clients to establish, expand, and protect profitable businesses in a rapidly-evolving legal, regulatory, and financial environment. From years of interacting with regulators and taxing authorities Rachel knows how state and local provisions will be ...
Ricardo Costa Macedo - Caiado Guerreiro

Ricardo Costa Macedo – Caiado Guerreiro

Ricardo Costa Macedo is a partner at Caiado Guerreiro since 2006. He heads the Intellectual Property and Life Sciences groups of the firm. His practice covers a wide range of contentious and non-contentious patent, trademark and other IP-related rights, such as trade secrets and unfair competition, in particular in the pharmaceutical, home care, food and insurance sectors. Moreover, he has vast knowledge in regulatory matters in these sectors. Recognition As ...
Ricardo Geada - Lawrence Stephens

Ricardo Geada – Lawrence Stephens

Lawrence Stephens welcomed Ricardo as a Director to spearhead the Regulatory Solutions Department, leveraging his extensive legal expertise spanning over 16 years. With a strong background in both private practice and in-house roles, Ricardo has honed his skills in dispute resolution, with a specialized focus on regulatory and compliance matters within the cannabis-related business realm, as well as the Cryptoassets & Blockchain industry. Ricardo is a trusted advisor sought after ...
Richard Y. Cheng - Ritter Spencer Cheng, PLLC

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 ...
Robert Becher - Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP

Robert Becher – Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP

Rob has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes business litigation and arbitration matters for over twenty years. He is the Chair of Quinn Emanuel’s Cannabis Litigation Practice Group.  Rob has represented cannabis clients involved in retail, cultivation, and private equity as well as CEOs, founders and corporate directors.  Rob has successfully litigated all types of business disputes, including shareholder litigation, directors and officers litigation, merger and acquisition litigation, private ...
Rod Kight - Kight on Cannabis

Rod Kight – Kight on Cannabis

Rod 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 Journal ...
Samantha Myers – Gowling WLG (UK) LLP

Samantha Myers – Gowling WLG (UK) LLP

Samantha is a partner in Gowling WLG's Corporate Group and is head of the firm's UK Cannabis Group. She specialises in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets. With extensive experience of acting for companies, or their advisers, on IPOs and secondary transactions, Samantha regularly advises on a range of domestic and cross border M&A transactions, including public takeovers. She also has significant experience in a range of ...
Sarah Lee - Gossett Parrish

Sarah Lee – Gossett Parrish

Sarah Lee Gossett Parrish (www.slgparrishlaw.com) is a third-generation attorney. She has achieved Martindale-Hubbel’s highest AV Preeminent™ rating for peer and judicial review, and has been selected to the Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers™. The National Law Journal named Sarah Lee one of its 2019 Cannabis Trailblazers, and her law firm was voted the Top Cannabis Business Law Firm in the State of Oklahoma in The Journal Record’s Readers Choice Awards four ...
Scot Crow - Dickinson Wright PLLC

Scot Crow – Dickinson Wright PLLC

Scot Crow (Member, Columbus) is General Corporate, M&A, and Private Equity Practice Group Chair and a Board Member at Dickinson-Wright PLLC.  Scot is also the Co-Founder of the Cannabis Practice, which launched over 10 years ago and includes more than 50 attorneys providing advice to clients in the cannabis sector. He has extensive experience in corporate, mergers and acquisitions, and tax law, with a particular emphasis on regulated industries (healthcare, ...
Sean J. McGowan - Kaufman McGowan PLLC

Sean J. McGowan – Kaufman McGowan PLLC

Sean McGowan is a partner at Kaufman McGowan PLLC, Corporate & Securities Counsel to the State-Legal Cannabis Industry™ and one of the leading corporate cannabis law firms in New York and the USA.  Mr. McGowan and his firm combine decades of practicing corporate and securities law at the highest levels with 9+ years of extensive cannabis industry experience.  Mr. McGowan represents a wide variety of cannabis companies (including several of ...
Steven F. Groce

Steven F. Groce

Member of the Missouri Bar, the Texas Bar, and the Bar of the United States Supreme Court Juries Doctorate (JD) Law, University of Missouri, at Kansas City - Graduated 1984 38 years Experience in Criminal Defense. Practice primarily devoted to DWI (Alcohol and/or Drug) Intoxication, including Cannabis; and also Defending all Cannabis related cases, for Possession, Cultivation, Distribution, etc. Consulting for both the Legal Cannabis Industry and Proposed Cannabis businesses, ...
Susan Burns -  S Burns Legal PLLC

Susan Burns – S Burns Legal PLLC

Susan Burns is a business lawyer who specializes in guiding businesses using steady or rapid growth strategies depending on their needs. Her practice serves various industries from service providers, microbiology consultants, and tech startups, to innovative industries such as sustainable food businesses and cannabis farmers and sellers. Susan functions as the on-call business partner to her clients.. As general counsel and strategic business advisor she finds creative solutions to unexpected ...
Thomas Howard - Collateral Base, LLC

Thomas Howard – Collateral Base, LLC

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 ...

Top 200 Cannabis Lawyers – Commended Archive

Karen Albence – Cultiva Law

Karen Albence – Cultiva Law

Los Angeles Cannabis Lawyer Karen Albence practices in the state of California for Cultiva Law and has cases and vast experience in numerous counties all over California. She also has litigated and is licensed to practice in Hawaii. Karen concentrates in litigation, and is experienced in all phases of civil and commercial litigation. However, she also has many years of experience in other litigation areas that relate to the unique ...
Thomas Butcher – Cultiva Law

Thomas Butcher – Cultiva Law

Portland Oregon Cannabis Lawyer Thomas Butcher combines a strong passion for litigation and hard work to reach the best outcome for his clients on a daily basis. In his legal practice, Thomas’ focus is in the representation of clients, ranging from farmers, processors and retail owners. With a background in corporate transactions and regulatory compliance, he brings his broad expertise to help clients during every stage of business development, growth ...
Lisa L. Pittman, Esq Pittman Legal

Lisa L. Pittman, Esq Pittman Legal

Lisa Pittman focuses on litigation, regulatory compliance, and corporate matters. Throughout Ms. Pittman’s 25-year career, she has litigated and tried disputes relating to labor & employment, breach of contract, commercial banking, fraud, fiduciary duty, construction defect and injury, deceptive trade practices, premises liability, professional liability, and products liability. She also possesses extensive expertise in complex commercial insurance coverage matters, having both defended insurance companies and advocated for policy holders in ...
Kenneth Ford – Cultiva Law

Kenneth Ford – Cultiva Law

While kenneth’s practice at Cultiva Law primarily focuses on representing cannabis industry clients in litigation, he is well versed in many areas of law. With a background in corporate litigation, industry compliance, corporate transactions, and tax, Ken is thrilled to meld these passions to cultivate effective legal solutions across all stages of corporate development, operation, and litigation. Ken is a cannabis attorney with an extensive background in tax law and ...
Susan Burns -  S Burns Legal PLLC

Susan Burns – S Burns Legal PLLC

Susan Burns is a business lawyer who specializes in guiding businesses using steady or rapid growth strategies depending on their needs. Her practice serves various industries from service providers, microbiology consultants, and tech startups, to innovative industries such as sustainable food businesses and cannabis farmers and sellers. Susan functions as the on-call business partner to her clients.. As general counsel and strategic business advisor she finds creative solutions to unexpected ...
Pamela Bubb - Webber Newdigate Attorneys

Pamela Bubb – Webber Newdigate Attorneys

Pamela Bubb is a partner and head of the Corporate and Commercial Department of Webber Newdigate Attorneys in Lesotho. Pamela focuses on commercial law and has a keen interest in cannabis matters. She and her team are involved in providing a broad range of commercial services including due diligence investigations, foreign exchange, advising international and local clients on cross-border taxation matters, along with drafting and vetting contracts. Pamela: Assists new ...
Katia Alcantar – Cultiva Law

Katia Alcantar – Cultiva Law

Katia is a cannabis business litigator representing clients as plaintiffs and defendants in disputes concerning contracts, commercial leases, and business torts. She has litigated in state and federal courts, before arbitrators, and on appeal. Katia has a proven track record resolving disputes inside and outside of the courtroom, consistently getting favorable results for her clients. Before joining Cultiva Law’s Portland office, Katia was a start-up founder who was engaged in the Portland, Seattle, and ...
Kamran Farkhondepay Aryah – Cultiva Law

Kamran Farkhondepay Aryah – Cultiva Law

As a cannabis attorney, Kamran builds compliance solutions for companies of all sizes in the emerging federally legal hemp market, and state level recreational marijuana markets. In his legal practice, Kamran’s focus is the representation of closely-held entities and emerging growth companies through the whole business life cycle, including entity selection, formation, protecting intellectual property rights, acquisitions and, if appropriate, the transfer or sale of the business. Kamran’s deep knowledge ...