"L.A.'s Dopest Attorney" Has Harvard Pedigree

Deep in the New Yorker's exploration of the "gray-area" economy of California's marijuana growers and dispensers, a Harvard tidbit...

Deep in the New Yorker's exploration of the "gray-area" economy of California's marijuana growers and dispensers, a Harvard tidbit...

Deep in the New Yorker's extended exploration of the "gray-area" economy of California's marijuana growers and dispensers—the article, wrapped around cartoons and poetry, spans 13 pages—is a Harvard tidbit. Allison Margolin, J.D. ’02, the article notes, "has a reputation for getting cases dismissed," and even for getting pot plants out of police custody and back to the growers from whom they were seized.

Margolin's office is apparently in a building owned by Hustler publisher Larry Flynt. The Harvard-trained lawyer, a graduate of Beverly Hills High School and Columbia University, has something in common with clients: she holds a doctor's letter permitting her to possess marijuana legally for medical use (to treat an anxiety disorder, she told author David Samuels).

Margolin's personal website, where she bills herself as "L.A.'s dopest attorney," contains more information, links to previous media coverage, and a YouTube video showing her with a client.

Related topics

You might also like

Landscape Architect Julie Bargmann Transforming Forgotten Urban Sites

Julie Bargmann and her D.I.R.T. Studio give new life to abandoned mines, car plants, and more.

Preserving the History of Jim Crow Era Safe Havens

Architectural historian Catherine Zipf is building a database of Green Book sites.  

David Leo Rice on 'The Berlin Wall'

David Leo Rice explores the strange, unseen forces shaping our world.

Most popular

Harvard researcher Erica Walker combats urban noise

Erica Walker aims to put “tools and data into the hands of people who can use it.”

Harvard’s Sendhil Mullainathan on behavior and poverty

A behavioral economist’s fresh perspectives on poverty

What Trump Means for John Roberts’s Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

Explore More From Current Issue

An illustrative portrait of Justice Roberts in a black robe, resting his chin on his hand.

What Trump Means for John Roberts’s Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

A lively concert in a modern auditorium with an audience seated on multiple levels.

Concerts and Carols at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Tuning into one of Boston's best chamber music halls 

A vibrant composition of flowers, a bird, and butterflies with a distant manor under a moody sky.

Rachel Ruysch’s Lush (Still) Life

Now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, a Dutch painter’s art proved a treasure trove for scientists.