Ann M. Cisco
Ann M. Cisco
Ms. Ann Cisco is a partner at the Cannabis Counsel, PLC law firm. Cisco is a tireless and fearless champion for the rights of medical marijuana patients and caregivers, and others whose only “crime” is to use medical marijuana, a natural herb to treat serious and debilitating medical conditions, instead of dangerous pharmaceuticals.
Cisco has 25 years in the federal and state trial and appellate courts where she developed a highly diversified set of legal skills. In 1985, she graduated cum laude at Wayne State University Law School. While attending law school, she clerked at the Senior Citizens Legal Aid Clinic and the business firm of Kramer, Mellon, Wagner, & Ishbia. Following graduation, she was admitted into the federal and state courts of Michigan where she worked as a law clerk for the Michigan Court of Appeals and as an associate attorney at Garan, Lucow, & Miller, developing immense expertise as an appellate attorney. Later, she practiced law in Los Angeles, California at Millard, Stack & Stevens, focusing on contract law litigated via declaratory judgments in the federal courts.
Seeking a life not dominated by the hustle and bustle of the 101 freeway, Cisco chose the cornfields of Cedar Rapids, Iowa where she became a partner at White & Johnson, P.C. She prosecuted the majority of the firm’s appeals, concentrated in employment law litigation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, Whistle Blowers Statutes, state and federal civil rights laws (race, sex, disability discrimination) and also advised employers how to create a just work place. After returning home to Michigan, Cisco served as an advocate for students with learning and other disabilities and fought school administrations that would rather label a student as a “trouble maker” than recognize and accommodate the student’s learning disabilities.
It wasn’t before too long that Cisco reconnected with her law school friend Matthew Abel, the founder of Cannabis Counsel in Detroit. As one of Abel’s partners, she advocates for those prosecuted for using, growing, and possessing marijuana. Cisco prefers the label of patient and caregiver defense for those individuals whom the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act was intended to protect. Given her expertise in business law and civil litigation, Cisco’s future plans include expansion into advising medical marijuana related businesses, and civil litigation to redress the wrongs patients and caregivers suffer daily when those charged with upholding and enforcing the Medical Marihuana Act, often trampled on by prosecuting attorneys and judges.
