John Rapp, Attorney

John Rapp

A seasoned and successful international and domestic litigator, mediator, negotiator, and appellate advocate, John represents a broad array of clients, from individuals to Fortune 500 companies. He has litigated business disputes of many types and involving many industries, including real estate, environmental, intellectual property, class actions, fraud, RICO, cannabis, and forfeiture, both domestically and internationally.

John has a special talent for helping partners in diverse businesses navigate business breakups. Due to his extensive experience, he has developed many methods for preventing litigation, making dispute resolution more cost-effective, and reducing lawsuit length and expense. If litigation is necessary, John is known for his tenacity, as well as his power to explain complex legal concepts to clients, judges, and juries.

John practices Psychedelic Law and Litigation.  He was an early member of the Psychedelic Bar Association and has assisted psychedelic clinics as well as addiction-recovery organizations.  He serves on the Board of Awake.net, a community platform for the psychedelic community, with a special focus on ending the opioid addiction crisis. He has served on the Executive Committee of Seattle’s Decriminalize Nature lobbying group, which is working successfully to decriminalize psychedelics.  
Before starting his career as a commercial litigator, John prosecuted hundreds of defendants as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, NY.

After hours, you’ll find John playing tennis, studying comparative religion, going to the movies, and playing with his granddaughter.

More About John

Creating an Ethical Culture in Cannabis, Cannabis Summit, September 24th, 2020.

Winning Before Fighting: Top 12 Alternative Dispute Resolution Strategies for Cannabis Companies, Harris Bricken webinar, August 14, 2019.

Psilocybin Services Would Be Legalized In Washington State Under New Bill, Marijuana Moment, January 6, 2022.

Neutral, Pacific ADR Consulting, LLC

Principal, 421 Law

Director of Education, Information Technology Compliance Institute

Director of Ethics Education, Microsoft Corp.

Asia Pacific Regional Training Officer, Baker & McKenzie

Lecturer & Continuing Ed. Director, University of Washington Law School

Senior Attorney & Director of Litigation Training, Bogle & Gates

Assistant District Attorney, Kings County (Brooklyn), NY

Regular contributor to the award-winning Canna Law Blog.

Distinguishing General From Universal Ethical Rules

The Comparative Reliability of Polygraph Evidence, Law Review

90-Second Nuggets: The Best of Business

Top 200 Global Psychedelic Lawyers and Policy & Regulatory Experts (2021-2022)

  • University of Washington School of Law, (J.D.)
  • University of Washington, (M.A.)
  • Northwest Nazarene University, (B.A., summa cum laude)
  • New York
  • Washington
  • Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • Western and Eastern District Federal Courts of Washington
  • Southern and Eastern District Federal Courts of New York
  • Eastern District Federal Court of Louisiana.
John Rapp