Matthew Abel

Matthew Abel is an activist attorney in his 31st year of private practice. He is founding partner of Detroit-based Cannabis Counsel, P.L.C., a five-attorney firm devoted to cannabis law, providing counseling, business, criminal defense, and other services. Mr. Abel is Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a lifetime member of the NORML Legal Committee and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and a member of the legal committee of the ACLU of Michigan.

During nearly two decades serving on the Representative Assembly, Abel has introduced resolutions supporting public financing of judicial elections and mandating that the Bar hold a public forum for Michigan Supreme Court candidates during each campaign season. Abel introduced a proposed Jury Instruction regarding the preservation of electronic evidence, and authored and introduced a resolution resulting in pre-sentence investigation reports being provided to defense counsel two days before sentencing, which now may be kept by the defense attorney, reducing one of the barriers to effective assistance in appealing an improper sentence.

Matthew Abel was one of the drafters and now is serving on the board of the Michigan statewide marijuana legalization ballot initiative known as MILegalize.