James Hearon

Associate

  • James Hearon
  • Phone: +1 856 874 4254

    Import to Address Book

  • Duane Morris LLP
    40 Lake Center Drive
    401 Route 73 North, Suite 200
    Marlton, NJ 08053
    USA

James R. Hearon has a broad administrative and commercial litigation practice with an emphasis on government contracting.

Mr. Hearon routinely advises clients in highly regulated industries.  He has represented clients in bid protests as well as assisting clients with licensure and permitting issues.  He has also represented clients in administrative proceedings before government agencies and in litigation against governmental entities.

Mr. Hearon also represents clients in commercial litigation on an array of matters.  He has defended against consumer class actions, contract claims, and different tort claims.  As a former appellate law clerk, he also has extensive experience in appellate advocacy.

Mr. Hearon is also an active member of the Firm’s Cannabis Industry Group and routinely assists small and large cannabis operators with navigating through administrative and regulatory issues.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Hearon served as law clerk to the Hon. Greta Gooden Brown of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.

Mr. Hearon is a 2017 graduate of Rutgers Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Rutgers Business Law Review, and a graduate of Rowan University.

Admissions

  • New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
  • U.S. Tax Court

Education

  • Rutgers Law School, J.D., 2017
    - Editor-in-Chief, Rutgers Business Law Review
  • Rowan University, B.A., 2013

Experience

  • Duane Morris LLP
    - Associate, 2022-present
  • Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC
    - Associate, 2019-2022
  • White & Williams LLP
    - Associate, 2018-2019
  • The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division
    - Law Clerk to the Hon Greta Gooden Brown, 2017-2018

Selected Publications

Representative Matters

  • Represented an early stage cannabis venture fund in several of its investments into New Jersey cannabis dispensaries.

  • Reversed the decisions of the state of California and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to strip the disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) certification of Kal Krishnan Consulting Services Inc., an engineering and project management firm that has long been certified as a DBE that designs and manages public construction work in California and elsewhere. Successfully appealed the decertification, which threatened much of the client’s current and future public contracting business, to the United States Department of Transportation.

  • Represented Illicit Gardens in its $34 million acquisition of a deeply troubled cannabis operator, Harmony Foundation of New Jersey, out of receivership and in its conversion to for-profit status, while also securing regulatory approvals that were conditions to closing. Harmony is one of New Jersey's original medical cannabis licensees with a highly valuable permit allowing ownership of three dispensaries; Illicit's acquisition followed a two-year, multiparty receivership action in the Bergen County Chancery Division imposed due to executive misconduct.