Emily became passionate about pursuing a legal career in the cannabis industry while attending Vanderbilt University Law School, where she had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enroll in the nation’s first law school course on marijuana law and policy, as well as assist leading expert Professor Robert Mikos with writing a first-of-its-kind casebook on the topic, “Marijuana Law, Policy, and Authority.”
Over the past 6 years, she has done everything from advising clients on Canadian and U.S. securities laws governing marijuana-related business transactions, to obtaining federal trademark protections for cannabis businesses, to drafting FDA-compliant disclaimers for CBD and Industrial-Hemp derived products in the absence of FDA guidance. She has researched and written on a wide range of issues related to legalization, including the availability of intellectual property rights in the cannabis industry, state employment law protections, and the 1st Amendment implications of marketing and advertising restrictions. By incorporating expert knowledge of the federal and state legal, regulatory, and policy environment with in-depth understanding of the business considerations relevant to operating in the cannabis industry, Emily is uniquely positioned to help clients successfully navigate the emerging cannabis market.
In addition to representing and advising individuals and businesses seeking cannabis licenses and securing final approval for pre-approved licensees, she also works with medical professionals and ancillary businesses working at the intersection of conflicting federal-state marijuana laws. Emily excels at helping clients identify, anticipate, and navigate existing and future legal concerns by combining her unique expertise in marijuana law, policy, and regulation with in-depth knowledge of the nascent cannabis industry and lifelong exposure to federal and state policymaking.
Prior to launching Legally Burns, LLC, Emily was an attorney at Offit Kurman, P.A., working in the firm’s cannabis law practice group. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Maryland School of Law, where her work focused on the regulation of cannabis and tobacco in the context of public health policy. Emily received her J.D. from Vanderbilt Law School, where she was an Honors Scholar. She received a B.A. in Public Policy and Minor in Political Science, summa cum laude, from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.