Harvest Law founder Melissa N. Sanchez practices law the same way she lives her life: with intrepid enthusiasm, resourceful creativity, and a commitment to sustainability. She started her law office in 2009 helping business clients with formation, start-up and general business matters which led her to assisting cannabis cultivators, established and new, navigate California’s Proposition 215, the Medical Marijuana Initiative. As the daughter of two educators, she was passionate about sharing knowledge about land use, environmental regulations and local enforcement with cultivators.

In 2012, Melissa was asked by the University of California’s Continuing Education of the Bar to organize and moderate the first continuing legal education class on medical cannabis. The class was held in both San Francisco and Los Angeles and featured Assistant United States Attorneys and respected attorneys in the field.  

Starting in 2015, Melissa, together with advocacy groups representing cultivators, organized and sponsored a very well-attended series of workshops held from Santa Cruz to Mendocino County for cultivators featuring speakers from the departments soon to regulate the industry, including the Department of Water Resources, Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Consumer Affairs. Having worked for the California State Assembly while in college, her combined policy understanding and legal expertise allows her to guide her clients through a very complex and ever-changing regulatory system. 

Melissa was the co-founder and Executive Director of Restore California, a charitable organization that raised funds from the cannabis industry to pay for the restoration and remediation of California’s lands destroyed by illegal cannabis cultivation. These efforts were later made law by Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, in 2016.

As flaws in Proposition 64 ravaged the industry, she worked to persuade local governments to adopt fair rules concerning cultivation and retail, and help her clients overcome many obstacles to licensure. In 2022, she assisted with drafting and passing the bill that removed the state cultivation tax.

After purchasing her first home, a good friend who is an estate planning lawyer recommended Melissa create an estate plan. It was through this process that Melissa learned the importance of having an estate plan if you live in California and the ability to plan for the care of her two beloved dogs in case something were to happen to her. This inspired her to want to share this information with others and help clients gain peace of mind through estate planning.

Melissa received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and International Relations from the University of California, Davis in 2004, where she earned a Regents Scholarship, the most prestigious award presented by the University. In 2007, she received her Juris Doctor degree from Columbia University School of Law in New York City, where she was a Robert L. Lieff Scholar.