Mike Arnold

Mike Arnold is an Oregon attorney and entrepreneur who thrives on what most would consider long-shot cases—particularly when challenging powerful institutions. He has extensive experience in jury trials and high-stakes criminal and civil litigation involving multiple parties, expert witnesses, and voluminous discovery.

Over the years, Mike played a role in Oregon’s cannabis industry, defending local farmers in federal and state courts, guiding businesses through license applications and land-use approvals, and even working hands-on as an outdoor cannabis farmer. He has also raised livestock and poultry, enhancing his practical knowledge of agriculture. In 2018, he co-invented a metered-dose psilocybin nasal spray, which led to raw-compound extractions in Jamaica and the establishment of psilocybin retreats there. He also founded and hosted ketamine-assisted psychotherapy retreats in Oregon, which were featured in Outside Magazine.

Mike is also the author of Finishing Machine, a true-crime story detailing the case of a Marine sniper and former UFC fighter accused of killing an unarmed elderly man in a road-rage incident. The book, ultimately banned by Oregon’s prison system, provides a rare glimpse into courthouse politics.

Nationally, Mike has appeared on two episodes of CBS’s 48 Hours (including “Trail of Tears”) and gained widespread attention while representing Ammon Bundy during the Malheur Wildlife Refuge Occupation. His public plea for the final occupiers to “please stand down” prompted a rapid de-escalation and helped secure a peaceful resolution for the last protester holdouts.

Beyond criminal defense, Mike has handled trade secret and breach of fiduciary duty litigation for businesses and hosted large-scale cannabis and hemp seminars in his home state of Missouri. These seminars covered corporate governance, scaled-up farming, and seed-to-sale operations for both established businesses and startups. In recent years, as the psychedelics sector continues to evolve, Mike has become a respected resource for clients looking to navigate this emerging market.

Mike welcomes complex litigation, whether the stakes involve significant financial exposure or personal liberty. He has tried cases before juries throughout Oregon—rural and urban alike—and achieved successful results in criminal, business, personal injury, and employment matters. In 2024 alone, he tried and won three jury trials in three different counties, with deliberations concluding in 14, 24, and 39 minutes respectively.

Asked by newer attorneys for practical advice, Mike keeps it simple: “Always return calls, treat people with respect, work hard until the day’s hours are gone—then hire more staff—and never hesitate to dismantle lies on cross-examination.”

Outside the courtroom, Mike’s “work hard, play hard” philosophy has guided his pursuits in rugby, small-scale farming (raising rare American Guinea Hogs, poultry, and orchard crops), and whitewater rafting on Class IV and V rivers across the Pacific Northwest. He has even dabbled in wine, hard cider, and mead-making—once earning a blue ribbon at the Lane County Fair.

In recent years, Mike has devoted much of his spare time to emerging markets and startups, especially in the psychedelics arena. In 2019, he filed a non-provisional utility patent application related to metered-dose technology and took a psychedelic company public on the Canadian Securities Exchange, illustrating his commitment to blazing new trails in frontier industries.

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