David I. Shapiro: A Courtroom Brawler Who Later Advocated Compromise
David I. Shapiro was renowned for his legal pugilism, but ended up an influential advocate of mediation as an alternative to courtroom conflicts.
Mr. Shapiro, who died Oct. 1 at age 81, rose to prominence for his work on class-action lawsuits. He helped fight or resolve cases involving price-gouging on antibiotics, the health consequences of the defoliant Agent Orange and overcharging by Exxon that led to a $2 billion judgment against the oil company.
But despite occasionally receiving large fees for his high-profile cases, Mr. Shapiro eventually soured on class-action litigation. In practice, he felt it serviced greed more than justice. He once called it a "whore's game" for its financial lures.
Instead, he came to prefer mediation for its ability to satisfy multiple parties in complex disputes. In 1996, at an age when most attorneys would be contemplating retirement, Mr. Shapiro moved to London to spread the gospel of mediation over litigation.
But his emphasis on more pacific means of settling disputes didn't mitigate his passion, which he felt could be put to good use in fighting for causes. Mr. Shapiro was fond of counseling young lawyers to "push the outrage button," says Craig Pollack, head of litigation at SJ Berwin LLP, Mr. Shapiro's London law firm.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Mr. Shapiro was known as a shouter. When U.S. bankruptcy judge Burton Lifland needed to appoint an outside examiner in the 1989 bankruptcy of Eastern Airlines, he called for "a head banger" and settled on Mr. Shapiro.
Admitted to the New York bar at 21, Mr. Shapiro initially practiced in New York City, where he worked in labor law and defended prostitutes by charging police entrapment. In 1953, he partnered with lawyer Sidney Dickstein to found Dickstein Shapiro LLC, which grew to include 400 lawyers. The firm moved to Washington, D.C. in 1956, to pursue antitrust cases and also because Mr. Shapiro developed a specialization representing workers fired on suspicion of being Communist.
In 1956, when he was 27, Mr. Shapiro successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in Cole v. Young on behalf of a federal food and drug inspector who had been suspended over alleged Communist associations. Sixteen other federal employees in various agencies were restored to their jobs as the Eisenhower administration suspended its loyalty-security program.
Read entire article at WSJ
Mr. Shapiro, who died Oct. 1 at age 81, rose to prominence for his work on class-action lawsuits. He helped fight or resolve cases involving price-gouging on antibiotics, the health consequences of the defoliant Agent Orange and overcharging by Exxon that led to a $2 billion judgment against the oil company.
But despite occasionally receiving large fees for his high-profile cases, Mr. Shapiro eventually soured on class-action litigation. In practice, he felt it serviced greed more than justice. He once called it a "whore's game" for its financial lures.
Instead, he came to prefer mediation for its ability to satisfy multiple parties in complex disputes. In 1996, at an age when most attorneys would be contemplating retirement, Mr. Shapiro moved to London to spread the gospel of mediation over litigation.
But his emphasis on more pacific means of settling disputes didn't mitigate his passion, which he felt could be put to good use in fighting for causes. Mr. Shapiro was fond of counseling young lawyers to "push the outrage button," says Craig Pollack, head of litigation at SJ Berwin LLP, Mr. Shapiro's London law firm.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Mr. Shapiro was known as a shouter. When U.S. bankruptcy judge Burton Lifland needed to appoint an outside examiner in the 1989 bankruptcy of Eastern Airlines, he called for "a head banger" and settled on Mr. Shapiro.
Admitted to the New York bar at 21, Mr. Shapiro initially practiced in New York City, where he worked in labor law and defended prostitutes by charging police entrapment. In 1953, he partnered with lawyer Sidney Dickstein to found Dickstein Shapiro LLC, which grew to include 400 lawyers. The firm moved to Washington, D.C. in 1956, to pursue antitrust cases and also because Mr. Shapiro developed a specialization representing workers fired on suspicion of being Communist.
In 1956, when he was 27, Mr. Shapiro successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in Cole v. Young on behalf of a federal food and drug inspector who had been suspended over alleged Communist associations. Sixteen other federal employees in various agencies were restored to their jobs as the Eisenhower administration suspended its loyalty-security program.