James Silva owns and operates The Law Office of James M. Silva, an independent real estate brokerage in Long Beach, California. He has extensive experience in cannabis real estate and can guide participants through understanding zoning and other crucial considerations of identifying and obtaining real estate for a commercial cannabis business.
Silva is a graduate of Pace University with a BA in Literature & Communications and Pepperdine University School of Law. Silva’s legal education and personal experience as a cancer survivor enabled him to understand the War on Drugs as an instrument of racial oppression and a tool of control through mass incarceration. In 1997, he opened The Law Office of James M. Silva and dedicated his legal career to the defense of people charged with state and federal cannabis crimes as a way of combating systemic racism and the mass incarceration of people in underserved communities.
Silva has argued his cases at all levels of the judicial system, including in front of the Supreme Court. In 2013, he achieved his California Real Estate Broker License in anticipation of lawful commercial cannabis business activity. Silva has become a fierce advocate for renter’s rights and advocate for disadvantaged individuals experiencing housing insecurity in underserved communities. He has served on the Legal Committee for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), a law professor at Oaksterdam University, and is currently the Specialist Coach of Law & Real Estate for the City of Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation Social Equity Application Program.
James Silva is an expert, coach, and instructor for Oaksterdam University.