Anita Famili

Practice Areas

As leader of Manatt’s Cannabis and CBD practice, which is comprised of about 60 professionals across the Firm’s various practices, Anita represents clients in all aspects of cannabis and CBD transactional deals and regulatory matters and has established herself as go-to counsel for companies and individuals operating in this rapidly evolving industry. Anita also leads Manatt’s Real Estate Transactions and Finance practice, and many of her clients rely on her valuable experience at the intersection of those key industries.

She has represented both private and public professional cannabis businesses for almost a decade in mergers, acquisitions and consolidations; joint venture formations; strategic partnership agreements; celebrity licensing deals; financings and equity raises; farm and dispensary acquisitions and dispositions; leasing; service agreements; Internet, media, advertising and Food and Drug Administration advisement; and licensing matters. As one of the nation’s go-to real estate advisers, Anita is a trusted partner for clients across the gamut of industries as they assemble, lead and manage major real estate transactions and is especially well-known for helping clients navigate complex transactions that require them to coordinate and collaborate with other legal experts, third-party operators, vendors, outside managers, developers and consultants. She guides real estate investment trusts, national retail grocers, public utilities, and other commercial developers in acquiring, entitling, developing, leasing, building, financing, deleveraging and joint-venturing property throughout the United States and has extensive experience in secured and unsecured financings, leveraged acquisitions, complex subordination and intercreditor arrangements, letters of credit, and in perfecting security interests in collateral.

Anita has been recognized as a leading cannabis attorney in Cannabis Law Journal, The National Law Journal, Daily Journal and Law360. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Cannabis Section and on the USC Real Estate and Business Law Forum’s Program and Planning Committees.

Professional Memberships

Admitted to practice in the state of California

UC Irvine Center for the Study of Cannabis, Legal Advisory Committee

Los Angeles County Bar Association Cannabis Section, Executive Committee

USC Real Estate and Business Law Forum, Program and Planning Committees

Cannabis Editorial Advisory Board, Law360, 2020–2022

Publications

Featured, “Cannabis MVP: Manatt’s Anita Famili,” Law360, October 4, 2021.

Quoted, “Cannabis companies join the SPAC frenzy,” POLITICO Pro, July 1, 2021.

Co-authored, “Prop 65 cannabis warnings provide clarity, but with conditions,” Daily Journal, April 16, 2021.

Quoted, “Out from the shadows: Investors start making big bets on weed,” POLITICO Pro, February 2021.

Quoted, “Pot's Ballot Victories Bode Well For Reform's Future,” Law360, November 5, 2020.

Co-author, “Is CBD on the Cusp of FDA Approval?,” mg Magazine, July 22, 2020.

Co-author, “Cannabis Industry Mergers May Soon Face Less DOJ Scrutiny,” Law360, July 20, 2020.

Co-author, “COVID-19 Redefines Commercial Leasing,” Daily Journal, April 14, 2020.

Co-author, “Coronavirus and Contracts—Force Majeure Redefined,” Bloomberg Law, March 12, 2020.

Co-author, “Why the Cannabis Industry Must Address the Unique Challenges of Mandated Data Retention,” Legaltech News, March 11, 2020.

Co-author, “CBD Risks Linger Despite Farm Bill, USDA Hemp Rules,” Law360, January 29, 2020.

Co-author, “INSIGHT: California Allows Medicinal Cannabis in Public Schools—A National Milestone for Cannabis Laws,” Bloomberg Law, January 21, 2020.

Quoted, “Hall Pass: California Opens Door to Medical Cannabis in Public Schools,” The GrowthOp, January 21, 2020.

Quoted, “California Legislation and Regulation to Watch in 2020,” Law360, January 1, 2020.

Co-author, “Is California’s Housing Crisis Act of 2019 the Answer or State Overreach?,” Daily Journal, December 31, 2019.

Quoted, “Hemp is Legal. Here Comes the Tricky Part,” CNN, November 1, 2019.

Quoted, “Hemp Regulation Turns Corner with New USDA Rule,” Law360, October 29, 2019.

Quoted, “With White House Approval, USDA Posts Interim Hemp Regulations,” Cannabis Business Times, October 29, 2019.

Quoted, “Why 2019 was a Tipping Point for BigLaw and Cannabis,” Law360, October 15, 2019.

Co-author, “What the food and beverage industry needs to know about CBD,” FoodDive, October 7, 2019.

Quoted, “Manatt Opens Cannabis Consulting Practice,” Consulting.us, July 16, 2019.

Quoted, “Manatt Phelps Opens Cross-Industry Cannabis, CBD Practice,” Law360, July 15, 2019.

Quoted, “Manatt Touts New Cannabis Practice as Firms Vie to Ride Green Wave,” The Recorder, July 15, 2019

Quoted, “States Setting Their Own CBD Rules as Federal Action Lags,” Hemp Industry Daily, July 3, 2019.