Howard Shapiro > WilmerHale > Washington DC, United States > Lawyer Profile
WilmerHale Offices
2100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20036
United States
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Howard Shapiro
Work Department
Antitrust Litigation ; Commercial Litigation ; Crisis Management and Strategic Response ; False Claims Act ; Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Anti-Corruption ; Government and Regulatory Litigation ; Government Contracts ; Life Sciences ; Litigation ; National Security ; Public Policy and Legislative Affairs ; Securities Enforcement ; Securities Litigation ; State Attorneys General ; Trials ; White Collar Defense and Investigations
Position
Partner
Career
Howard Shapiro, a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, has 35 years of courtroom experience as a trial lawyer in civil and criminal matters, and has been repeatedly recognized as one of Washington’s leading lawyers. He has been singled out by Chambers USA as a Star Individual for white-collar criminal defense; and he is listed in the Expert Guide to the World’s Leading White Collar Crime Lawyers. Best Lawyers in America lists him as a leading lawyer for business litigation.
Clients have observed that Mr. Shapiro “is a masterful strategist, trial attorney and adviser”; that “he is aggressive, but in a very measured and controlled way. He really works hard to push the government on behalf of his clients in a way that is successful for his clients. He is a really ambidextrous white-collar lawyer and is extremely skillful in the courtroom”; and that “he is very thoughtful and strategic in his representations. He really looks at each case individually and figures out the best approach to recommend to clients.”
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Shapiro served as the General Counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1993 to 1997. In 1997, Mr. Shapiro was awarded the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal by the Director of Central Intelligence. He was previously a much-decorated Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he tried numerous cases ranging from bank fraud and political corruption to organized crime and narcotics. During his tenure as an AUSA, Mr. Shapiro was specially assigned by the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute the notorious mail bombing assassinations of former United States Circuit Judge Robert Vance and former civil rights attorney Robert Robinson.
Memberships
- District of Columbia
- New York
Education
JD, Yale Law School, 1985
BA, Williams College, 1982
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
(Leading lawyers: Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense: advice to corporates)Housing ‘a stellar team of experienced lawyers’, WilmerHale represents both companies and individuals who are being investigated by regulatory authorities such as the DOJ, SEC, and CFTC. The team has experience acting for clients across a range of industries, including technology, financial services, education, and healthcare. Heading the team, Kimberly Parker is based in Washington DC and focuses on corruption matters. Howard Shapiro and Ronald Machen are also located in Washington DC. Shapiro has experience handling sensitive internal investigations for financial institutions in various jurisdictions, including Asia, South America, and the UK. Machen advises on a broad range of cases relating to economic sanctions, money laundering, cybersecurity, and false claims. Practicing in Boston, George Varghese is also noted for his extensive experience advising on health care fraud and national security, among other matters. John Walsh left the Denver office in November 2023.
Lawyer Rankings
- Leading lawyers: Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense: advice to corporates United States > Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense United States > Dispute resolution
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Finance > Financial services regulation
- Antitrust > Cartel
- International trade > CFIUS
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Industry focus > Education
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Industry focus > Education
- Industry focus > Education
- Industry focus > Native American law
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Government > State attorneys general
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- International trade > Trade remedies and trade policy
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Venture capital and emerging companies
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- International trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Government > Government contracts
- Government > Government relations
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Finance > Fintech
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Real estate > Real estate
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense