Keenan M. Jones

Representative Experience

• Assisted multiple Ohio marijuana licenses with state application processes during Ohio’s transition from medical marijuana only to medical and adult-use marijuana.
• Assisted multiple Colorado marijuana applicants with state and local application processes, including initial applications, annual renewals, change of ownership, change of location, and modification of premises.
• Successfully obtained a complete reversal on appeal of a multi-million-dollar judgment against a hemp client.
• Successfully obtained a settlement payment from a service provider and vendor in the marijuana industry after filing a deceptive trade practices lawsuit.
• Successfully obtained a settlement payment for a landlord of a defaulting marijuana tenant in receivership.
• Successfully obtained the appointment of receivers over the property of defaulting borrowers.
• Obtained federal trademark protection for non-plant products for hemp and marijuana businesses.
• Along with co-counsel, successfully obtained a preliminary injunction against a municipality preventing the enforcement of an unconstitutional ordinance.

Education & Admissions

Education

• University of Denver Sturm College of Law, J.D., Order of St. Ives, 2012
• Heidelberg University, B.A., summa cum laude, 2009

Bar and Court Admissions

• State of Ohio
• State of Indiana
• State of Colorado

Involvement

Professional Affiliations

• Ohio State Bar Association, Member
• Indiana State Bar Association, Member
• Colorado Bar Association, Member
  • Cannabis Law Section, Member at Large (2024 – Present)

Professional Affiliations

• International Cannabis Bar Association (2023 – Present)
• Midwest Hemp Council, Member (2019 – Present)

 Community Involvement

• Heidelberg University – Adjunct Professor of Political Science (2022 – 2024)
• Model United Nations of the Far West – Counsel, Ex-Officio Board Member (2018 – Present)

Publications

• “A Year in Review of Ohio’s Adult Use Cannabis Program for Employers,” (Co-Author) Frantz Ward Cannabis Law Blog (December 2024)
• “Cannabis Business Disputes: Options for Staying Out of the Courtroom,” (Co-Author) Cannabis Business Times (June 2024)
• “5 Things to Confirm When Signing a Cannabis Facility Construction Agreement,” (Co-Author) Cannabis Business Times (May 2024)
• “DEA Advances Marijuana Rescheduling; Senators Propose Descheduling,” Frantz Ward Cannabis Law and Policy Blog (May 2024)
• “Labor Law Developments Clear the Path for Growing Unionization in Cannabis,” (Co-Author) Cannabis Business Times (March 2024)
• “7 Critical Questions Cannabis Businesses Need to Be Asking About The Corporate Transparency Act, The Most Important Federal Law You’ve Never Heard Of,” (Co-Author) Cannabis Business Times (February 2024)
• “Ohio Voters Decisively Pass Issue 2 to Legalize Adult Use Marijuana in the Buckeye State,” Frantz Ward Cannabis Law and Policy Blog (November 2023)
• “Psychoactive Sanctuary: Religious Attempts to Circumvent the CSA,” Frantz Ward Blog Post (May 2023)
• “Exit Strategies and Distressed Assets,” Cannabis Law in Colorado (August 2022)
• “A millennial’s take on political involvement,” The Indiana Lawyer (November 2015)

Presentations & Lectures

• Legalized Marijuana in Ohio: What You Need to Know, Ohio Staffing & Search Association (September 19, 2024)
• Advising Cannabis Businesses in Distress, National Business Institute (September 10, 2024)
• Marijuana Legalization and Your Business Safety, Greater Cleveland Partnership, Council of Smaller Enterprises (August 14, 2024)
• Counseling Cannabis: Legal Essentials and Opportunities, American Law Institute (June 12, 2024)
• Marijuana Business Law in Ohio, National Business Institute (April 10, 2024)

• Cannabis and the Brewing Industry, Ohio Craft Brewers Association (January 16, 2024)
• Criminalization of Medicine: Medical Marijuana, Cleveland & Northern Ohio’s Annual Medical/Legal Summit, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (April 29, 2023)
• Cannabis in Veterinary Medicine Symposium, Legal Status Update & Considerations, Lone Tree, CO (Oct. 6, 2018)
• Colorado Bar Association CLE, A Growing Industry: The Future of Hemp and CBD, Denver, CO (Apr. 18, 2017)