Jesse Alderman

Practice Areas

Jesse Alderman is a land use and regulatory expert, recognized by Chambers USA as one of the country’s leading cannabis lawyers. Jesse is co-chair of Foley Hoag’s Administrative Law Department and co-chair of Foley Hoag’s nationwide Cannabis Practice. He specializes in cannabis matters, competitive RFPs, regulatory and land use disputes and complex permitting issues.

He assists clients in securing competitive licenses and has authored winning applications in several states. Jesse leads Foley Hoag’s competitive applications team, which has written and project managed multiple winning RFP responses, including in the nation’s most competitive limited license jurisdictions, such as Alabama, Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio and others. He counsels clients on complex issues of state regulatory compliance and advises buyers and sellers on regulatory considerations in mergers, acquisitions, and financings – including some of the largest transactions in the industry to date.

Jesse also leverages his regulatory expertise in other areas of practice, including environmental, real estate and infrastructure development, with a focus on state and municipal regulatory matters, permitting and related litigation. He advises both municipal entities and those who appear before them on matters related to zoning, urban redevelopment and public procurement.

In his litigation practice, Jesse prevailed for the City of South Portland in a nationally watched case, obtaining summary judgment on eight counts and a trial victory on the remaining claim against the City’s “Clear Skies Ordinance.” He has successfully obtained dismissal of a suit seeking to enforce a municipal ordinance against a former owner at a federal Superfund site, prevailed at the Supreme Judicial Court in challenging a DPU Order charging ratepayers for new gas pipeline capacity, and won several real property actions in the Land and Superior Courts. Jesse has written dozens of appellate briefs and is a member of the firm’s Appellate Practice.

Jesse has been at the forefront of the medical and adult-use cannabis industry since its earliest stages on the U.S. East Coast. He serves on the Law and Regulations Committee of the U.S. Cannabis Council. As a member of the Town of Marblehead Conservation Commission, Jesse has considerable knowledge of permitting under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, as well as the Clean Water Act.

Jesse has authored five law review articles, including publications in the University of Virginia's Virginia Environmental Law Journal and the Boston College Law Review. Prior to joining Foley Hoag, he was a law clerk for Justice Robert J. Cordy of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Before law school, Jesse was a reporter for The Associated Press in Boston and Boise, Idaho, and The Durango Herald in Durango, Colorado.

Education: Boston College Law School, J.D.; Columbia University, M.S. in Journalism; Tufts University, B.A.