Overview and Experience
As a Partner at Shapiro, Croland, Apfel & Di Iorio, LLP, Eric’s varied litigation and transactional experience includes a concentration in Cannabis Law, Business & Partnership Divorces, Estate/Probate Litigation and Contested Guardianships.
Eric is also the chair of the firm’s Cannabis Law Group. Since 2016, Eric has been representing clients in the cannabis industry with license applications, regulatory compliance, contractual agreements, corporate transactions, and litigation matters. Eric’s work as a cannabis lawyer in New Jersey has earned him recognition among his peers as an authority in the cannabis legal space, and he has been quoted and featured in publications such as NJ Cannabis Insider and NJBiz on related topics.
In addition to cannabis law, Eric concentrates his practice in complex business litigation and probate litigation and handles trial and appellate matters in New Jersey and New York state and federal courts. Eric further focuses his practice on corporate divorce matters involving partnership and shareholder disputes, corporate derivative actions, restrictive covenant disputes and actions involving temporary and preliminary injunctions.
Eric also represents clients in fraudulent transfer litigation, contested guardianships, business counseling, intellectual property law protection and litigation, bankruptcy filings, bankruptcy court litigation and corporate dissolutions.
Prior to entering private practice, Eric was a Judicial Law Clerk for the Hon. Margaret M. McVeigh, P.J.Ch., in the Chancery Division – General Equity Part, Passaic Vicinage, Paterson, NJ. Following his Chancery clerkship, Eric was Judicial Law Clerk for the Hon. Michael B. Kaplan, U.S.B.J., in the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey, Trenton, NJ.
Eric’s burgeoning expertise in these areas of law has earned him recognition as a Rising Star in Business Litigation by New Jersey Super Lawyers, a distinction awarded to no more than 2.5% of practicing attorneys in New Jersey. He has also been the recipient of several court appointments, including as counsel and guardian ad litem for the alleged incapacitated. Additionally, he is a candidate for judicial appointments in complex commercial litigation matters as a special fiscal agent, receiver and provisional director. A graduate of the University of Michigan and Rutgers School of Law, Eric is admitted to practice before both the federal and state courts of New Jersey and New York.
Admitted To Bar
- 2010, New Jersey; 2011, New York.
- Admitted to the U.S. District Courts for the District of New Jersey
- U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
Education
- University of Michigan (B.A., 2007)
- Rutgers University School of Law (J.D., 2010)
Areas of Concentration
- Partnerships and shareholder disputes
- Corporate derivative actions; restrictive covenant disputes
- Actions involving temporary and preliminary injunctions
- Fraudulent transfer litigation
- Probate litigation and contested guardianships
- Cannabis licensing, regulatory compliance, cannabis business counseling, and corporate transactions
- Business counseling and corporate transactions
- Regulatory compliance and litigation
- Intellectual property law protection and litigation
- Bankruptcy filings, bankruptcy court litigation and corporate dissolutions
- Trial & appellate practice in state and federal court
Honors & Memberships
- Recognized as a Rising Star in Business Litigation by New Jersey Super Lawyers in 2016-2018
- Inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America publication in 2018.
Reported Cases Trial & Appellate Courts
- In re Estate of Kanter, No. A-5634-14T3, 2016 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 2728 (Super. Ct. App. Div. Dec. 21, 2016) (enforcement of a settlement agreement entered on the record)
- Big Smoke LLC v. Twp. of W. Milford, 478 N.J. Super. 203, 313 A.3d 77 (App. Div. 2024) (municipal actions in the cannabis context enjoy a presumption of validity; municipalities have wide discretion to establish local cannabis licensing procedures; process by which zoning permits are granted is ministerial)
Significant Representations
- Inquire for references
Articles & Publications
- Inquire for references
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