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Experience:
Stephen Shapiro is the founder and senior member of the Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation practice group at Mayer Brown. Under his leadership the group has grown to become the largest Supreme Court and appellate practice in the country, and has been ranked first nationally by both Chambers USA and The Legal 500. Lawyers in the group have argued over 200 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and a large number of appeals in federal and state courts across the country. Steve personally has been responsible for briefing more than 200 cases and for arguing 27 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Clients that Steve has represented in private practice include many members of the Fortune 500 in virtually all industries and areas of business, as well as national and state governments, other governmental entities, leading trade and professional associations, and high-profile not-for-profit organizations. The precedent-setting cases that he has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court have led to far-reaching decisions reshaping the law of antitrust, securities regulation, taxation, banking, administrative law, and federal-state relations.
During 2007 Steve successfully represented the 15 leading underwriters and mutual funds in the nation before the Supreme Court (Credit Suisse v. Billing), in the largest private antitrust case in history. In October of 2007, he successfully argued before the Supreme Court what The Wall Street Journal has called "the biggest securities-litigation court clash in a generation." The case (Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola, Inc.) held that product vendors, lenders, accountants and other secondary participants may not be sued for "scheme liability" under the federal securities laws.
ABA Litigation magazine (Spring, 2006) described Steve as "perhaps the preeminent appellate advocate practicing today." Such an evaluation is borne out by the 2007 edition of Chambers USA, which stated that, "He combines sheer brilliance with humility and an unfailing ability to realize what the justices are interested in." In 2006 Chambers USA called Steve "a key factor in the firm's dominance in appellate litigation." Steve's clients have in previous years praised him in Chambers for "eloquent advocacy," and used phrases such as "the smartest lawyer in the world" and "at the top of my list for referrals" to characterize his practice.
Before joining Mayer Brown, Steve served as Deputy Solicitor General of the United States (1981-1983), and as Assistant to the Solicitor General (1978-1980). As Deputy Solicitor General his responsibilities included briefing and arguing cases for the federal government in the Supreme Court of the United States and supervising appellate litigation in the courts of appeals. He supervised most of the government's business cases in the Supreme Court, including antitrust, banking, FTC, SEC, CFTC, FCC, FMC, CPSC, CAB, ICC, and other cases arising from federal administrative agencies.
Steve is co-author of the standard treatise on litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court, Supreme Court Practice (2007). He has also written numerous articles on appellate practice, and has lectured on these issues before law schools and professional organizations nationwide. He is a Life Member of the American Law Institute and a member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. In addition to heading Mayer Brown's Supreme Court and Appellate group, Steve has played an active role in firm governance as former head of the Telecommunications practice group and as a member of the Management Committee.
Representative Clients
Clients that Steve has represented in private practice include: the Government of Japan, the State of Illinois, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Business Roundtable, the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the Securities Industry Association, the Product Liability Advisory Council, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Bankers Association, the American Trucking Associations, the American Corporate Counsel Association, the Automobile Importers of America, the New York Clearing Association, the National Guard Association of the United States, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, AT&T, Ameritech, BellSouth Corporation, Pacific Telesis Group, Bell Atlantic Corporation, U S West, Inc., NYNEX Corporation, SBC Communications, Inc., Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc., Oracle Corporation, International Paper Company, Brunswick Corp., Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, Chrysler Corporation, Volkswagen of America, Mercedes-Benz, Saturn Corporation, Caterpillar, Inc., Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corporation, Subaru of America, Merrill Lynch & Co., UBS/PaineWebber, Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., Citicorp, Continental Bank, the Northern Trust Company, First American Bankshares, Inc., Northeast Bancorp, Advance Ross Corporation, FMC Corporation, BASF Corporation, ChevronTexaco Corporation, Koch Industries, Inc., Inland Steel Industries, General Electric Company, Motorola, Inc., Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Trans World Airlines, US Airways, Air Canada, Lufthansa German Airlines, Encyclopaedia Britannica, GATX Corporation, Knight-Ridder, Inc., Tribune Co., Northern Illinois Gas Co., Hughes Aircraft Company, Lexecon, Inc., WSNS-TV Channel 44, General Reinsurance Corp., CIGNA Corporation, Aetna Life & Surety Co., Insurance Services Office, ITT Corporation, ITT Hartford, Reinsurance Association of America, American Insurance Association, American Re-Insurance Company, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, The Dow Chemical Company, The Upjohn Company, Cargill, Inc., Santa Fe Pacific Corporation, JMB Realty Corporation, Angus Chemical Company, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Massachusetts School of Law, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corporation, Dinsmore & Shohl, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
In the pages following, Steve summarizes the major cases he has handled in the Supreme Court and on appeal, followed by a description of his advocacy before Congress and federal administrative agencies.
Notable Engagements:
CASES ARGUED IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola, Inc., - U.S. - 2008 WL 123801 (Jan. 15, 2008) (argued on behalf of both defendant product manufacturers). In this case, described by the Wall Street Journal as "the biggest securities-litigation court clash in a generation," the Supreme Court agreed with our argument by a 5/3 vote and ordered dismissal of the securities class action with prejudice, rejecting "scheme liability" as a theory of recovery and curtailing future growth of implied securities fraud causes of action. The Stoneridge decision led to the Court's rejection of $40 billion investor class claims in the Enron litigation a week later. Regents of Univ. of Cal. v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., - U.S. - 2008 WL 169504 (Jan. 22, 2008).
Credit Suisse First Boston v. Billing, 127 S. Ct. 2383 (2007) (argued on behalf of the fifteen largest underwriters and mutual funds in the nation). This was the largest private antitrust case in history, in which the plaintiffs sought to impose treble damages class action liability for alleged market manipulation in 900 initial public offerings. The Supreme Court by a 7/1 vote accepted our contention that the defendant underwriters and mutual funds were entitled to antitrust immunity.
Burton Kanter and Claude Ballard v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 544 U.S. 40 (2005) (argued on behalf of both taxpayers). In this tax case, the Supreme Court accepted our argument by a 7/2 vote that taxpayers are entitled to disclosure of credibility determinations by Special Trial Judges of the Tax Court. The Tax Court adopted new rules guaranteeing transparency of proceedings as a result of this decision and the Eleventh and Fifth Circuits reinstated the opinion of the Special Trial Judge in this case. 431 F.3d 439 (2005), 429 F.3d 1026 (2005).
F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd. v. Empagran, S.A., 542 U.S. 155 (2004) (argued on behalf of all foreign vitamin manufacturers named as defendants in this global antitrust class action, described in the ABA Journal as "the most important antitrust case in a generation"). In this case the Supreme Court unanimously accepted our argument that the federal antitrust laws do not extend to global conspiracies that injure plaintiffs in foreign markets.
Sprietsma v. Mercury Marine, 537 U.S. 51 (2003) (argued on behalf of Mercury Marine). In this case the Supreme Court unanimously rejected our preemption argument but remanded for determination of state law defenses. The Illinois Supreme Court had accepted the preemption argument by a 6/1 vote.
Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Echazabal, 536 U.S. 73 (2002) (argued on behalf of ChevronTexaco). In this case the Supreme Court unanimously accepted our argument that the Americans with Disabilities Act permits employers to refuse to hire persons whose life or safety would be endangered by a particular work environment.
Amchem Products, Inc., et al. v. George Windsor, et al., 521 U.S. 591 (1997) (argued on behalf of 20 domestic asbestos manufacturing firms). In this case the Supreme Court, by a 6/2 vote, accepted our contention that Fed. R. Civ. P. 23 permits "settlement class actions," but disapproved the current settlement without additional "sub-classes."
Hartford Ins. Co. v. State of California, 509 U.S. 764 (1993) (argued on behalf of the U.S. insurance industry against 19 plaintiff states). In this case, which was the largest government antitrust proceeding since the AT&T divestiture, the Supreme Court unanimously accepted our argument that U.S. insurers do not lose McCarran Act immunity as a result of agreements with foreign reinsurers, and by a 5/4 vote it accepted our argument that the McCarran Act "boycott" standard does not encompass agreements among insurers and reinsurers as to acceptable policy terms.
Virginia Bankshares, Inc. v. Sandberg, 501 U.S. 1083 (1991) (argued on behalf of First American Bankshares and its Chairman, Clark M. Clifford). By a 5/4 vote, the Court accepted our argument that the class-action plaintiffs failed to prove causation under the federal securities laws in this freeze-out merger case.
American Trucking Associations, Inc. v. Scheiner, 483 U.S. 266 (1987) (argued on behalf of American Trucking Associations, Inc.). By a 5/4 vote, the Supreme Court accepted our Commerce Clause challenge to flat truck taxes levied by the states, overruling prior decisions of the Court extending over a period of 60 years.
Education:
Yale Law School, JD, 1971; Board of Editors, Yale Law Journal, Yale University, BA magna cum laude, 1968; Phi Beta Kappa; Honors with Exceptional Distinction, Litigation training, National Institute for Trial Advocacy; Lane Trial Technique Clinic, Industrial Organization Studies, U.S. Dept. of Justice, UCLA, University of Chicago. |
