James Hannaway is an Associate at Sanford Heisler Sharp.
At Sanford Heisler Sharp, James’s practice has focused on employment discrimination, qui tam, and public-interest litigation, representing both individuals and classes. Working with a team of Sanford Heisler Sharp attorneys, James has represented clients including:
- a class of over 10,000 current and former African American Deputy U.S. Marshals and Detention Enforcement Officers who have experienced racism in hiring, promotions, and headquarters assignments from 1994 to the present
- a tech company executive who faced retaliation for opposing discrimination and pay discrimination based on his race
- a female Partner at a law firm who was paid less than her male peers based on her gender
- local governments in their claims against opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) for their role in creating the public health emergency caused by prescription opioids
- a tech company employee who faced retaliation for opposing discrimination and pay discrimination based on her race and gender
- a female in-house counsel at a large corporation who was paid less than her peers based on her gender and age
- a defense-industry whistleblower who faced retaliation for opposing illegal practices
- whistleblowers in sealed and unsealed qui tam suits under investigation by the U.S. government and other governmental stakeholders
James received his law degree with highest honors, Order of the Coif, from the George Washington University Law School and his Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Carleton College. While at the George Washington University Law School, James served as an Articles Editor of The George Washington Law Review, Chapter President of the American Constitution Society, Student Attorney for the Public Justice Advocacy Clinic, and Organizing Committee Member of GW’s graduate worker union. He also worked as a research assistant for Associate Dean Alan B. Morrison and a law clerk at another national public interest law firm.
A member of the District of Columbia bar, James is also a volunteer attorney for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee Workers' Rights Clinic and a board member for the American Constitution Society's DC Lawyer Chapter.
Before joining Sanford Heisler Sharp, James completed a clerkship for the Honorable Deborah A. Robinson, Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Prior to law school, James worked on, and eventually managed, several electoral campaigns and worked as a crisis communications consultant.
When James is not lawyering, he enjoys running, the Baltimore Orioles, and walking his chihuahua mix rescue, Millie, around Washington, DC’s Mt. Pleasant neighborhood.
