Isaac Shapiro

Last updated
Isaac Shapiro
Born1931
Japan
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Columbia University (BA, LLB)
Occupationlawyer
Employer Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Known forPresident of Japan Society
SpouseJacqueline Weiss

Isaac Shapiro (born 1931) is an American lawyer with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. [1] He is an expert in Soviet law, Japanese law, and served as the president of Japan Society. [2] [3] [4] He has also written widely about Japan and Japanese-American relations. [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Biography

Shapiro was born in Japan in 1931 as a Stateless person. [8] His father was Constantine Shapiro, a Russian Jewish musician who left the country with his family after the Russian Revolution. [9] The elder Shapiro lived in Germany, where he was the first cellist of the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester, and moved to Japan, where he pioneered the establishment of Western classical music. [9] His mother was a concert pianist who met and married the elder Shapiro in Berlin, before leaving for Harbin, China, and Japan. [8] [10] [11] He is also a nephew of concert pianist Maxim Shpairo and Russian-French philosopher Vladimir Lossky. [12]

Shapiro grew up in the Japanese-occupied Harbin and Yokohama during World War II. He studied at Saint Joseph College, Yokohama but his studies were interrupted by the war. [11] He moved to the United States in 1945, after then-marine officer John C. Munn hired him as translator and was made his guardian. [13] [14] He attended Punahou School in Honolulu, graduating from Columbia College in 1954, and Columbia Law School in 1956. [2] [15] He was also a Fulbright scholar and studied at the University of Paris. [1]

He joined Milbank Tweed upon graduating from law school and opened the firm's first Japanese office in Tokyo in 1977, which led to protests from the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, resulting in a freeze on the establishment of foreign law offices in Japan. [16] However, his trailblazing effort subsequently led to the entry of other foreign law firms. [10] [17] [18] In 1986, he joined Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and headed its international practice, opening its practice in Japan. [19] [20] He became of counsel to the firm in 2001. [1]

Shapiro was a director of Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi Foundation in New York City, and served as a past president of the Isamu Noguchi Foundation. [21] [22] [23] He also served as president of the Japan Society from 1970 to 1977. [7] [24] [25]

He is the author of Edokko: Growing Up a Foreigner in Wartime Japan, an autobiography of his childhood. [26] He was also the author of The Soviet Legal System, a textbook on Soviet law, co-written with Columbia law professor John N. Hazard. [27]

In 2006, Shapiro was awarded an Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon by the Emperor of Japan for his service in promoting U.S.-Japan cultural relations. [3]

Personal life

Shapiro is married to Jacqueline Weiss, who he met at Columbia law. [14] Weiss comes from a family of rabbis and is a niece of the former rabbis of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco and the Rockdale Temple in Cincinnati. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isamu Noguchi</span> Japanese-American artist

Isamu Noguchi was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several mass-produced lamps and furniture pieces, some of which are still manufactured and sold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom</span> International law firm

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, typically shortened to Skadden, is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. The company is known for its work on company mergers and takeovers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Landmark (Hong Kong)</span> Commercial complex in Central, Hong Kong

Landmark is a commercial complex owned by Hongkong Land in Central, Hong Kong. It consists of three office towers: Gloucester Tower, Edinburgh Tower and York House. Its retail podium, Landmark Atrium, forms the core component of the LANDMARK shopping mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Buck</span> Lawyer and chairman of Chelsea Football Club

Bruce Mackie Buck is an American lawyer and founding managing partner of the London office of law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. He was also the Chairman of Chelsea Football Club. His practice areas are European mergers and acquisitions, project finance and capital markets.

Dewey Ballantine LLP was a corporate law firm headquartered in New York City. In 2007, Dewey Ballantine merged with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae to form Dewey & LeBoeuf. Dewey Ballantine underwent numerous name changes throughout its history as partners left to serve in government positions or form new firms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Gottfried</span> American lawyer

Keith Gottfried is a strategic advisor to public companies and their board of directors in the areas of shareholder activism preparedness and defense. Over the course of a career that spans more than 30 years, Gottfried has advised numerous public companies and their boards of directors on shareholder activism preparedness and defense, including in connection with high-profile proxy contests, special meeting demands, consent solicitations, and withhold vote/vote no campaigns, as well as unsolicited takeover offers and negotiated and contested M&A situations. Earlier in his career, Gottfried served as a senior official in the administration of President George W. Bush and was notably nominated by President Bush on July 29, 2005, and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 7, 2005, to serve as the 19th General Counsel for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cliff Sloan</span>

Clifford Sloan is an attorney and American diplomat who served as Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure at the United States Department of State. Sloan is currently a Dean's Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University Law Center and retired partner for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates. Previously, Sloan was the publisher of Slate magazine.

Merit E. Janow is a professor in the practice of international trade and dean at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs from 2013 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory B. Craig</span> American attorney

Gregory Bestor Craig is an American lawyer and former White House Counsel under President Barack Obama, from 2009 to 2010. A former attorney at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Williams & Connolly, Craig has represented numerous high-profile clients. Prior to becoming White House Counsel, he served as assistant to the President and special counsel in the White House of President Bill Clinton, where he directed the team defending Clinton against impeachment. Craig also served as a senior advisor to Senator Edward Kennedy and to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Boris Bershteyn is an Obama administration official who until June 2013 had served as acting Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. He previously served from 2011 to 2012 as general counsel for the federal Office of Management and Budget. Prior to his work at the Office of Management and Budget, he served as an Associate White House Counsel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Lee (entrepreneur)</span>

Brian Sung Lee is a South Korean-American entrepreneur who co-founded LegalZoom, ShoeDazzle, and The Honest Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert D. Drain</span> American judge

Robert D. Drain is a former United States bankruptcy judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York who has presided at several high-profile corporate bankruptcies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Lighthizer</span> American attorney and government official (born 1947)

Robert Emmet Lighthizer is an American attorney and government official who served as the United States Trade Representative from 2017 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie H. Becker</span> American judge

Julie Helene Becker is an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and an attorney.

Mark N. Kaplan is an American lawyer and business executive who is the former CEO of Drexel Burnham Lambert and senior partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates.

David Fox is an American lawyer with a specialty in public companies mergers and acquisitions. He was with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for over 20 years, where he was a partner and a member of the executive team before moving to Kirkland & Ellis in 2009.

John Hampton Slate was an American aviation lawyer and founding partner of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.

Helene Lois Kaplan was an American lawyer and nonprofit executive. She was of counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and was the first person to serve as two-time Chairman of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Lynn Rogers Coleman was an American attorney who served as the third United States deputy secretary of energy from 1980 to 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Pieciak</span> American politician

Michael S. Pieciak is an American politician from Vermont. A member of the Democratic Party, Pieciak has served as Vermont State Treasurer since January 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Isaac Shapiro" (PDF). Skadden. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Supporter of Japanese Legal Studies Isaac Shapiro '56 Publishes Illuminating Memoir". www.law.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  3. 1 2 Japan Info. Japan Informational Center, Consolate General of Japan. 2005.
  4. ↑ "Edokko: Growing Up a Foreigner in Wartime Japan". YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  5. ↑ "Jewish Refugee in World War II Japan | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  6. ↑ Hongo, Jun (2015-07-10). "WSJ Archive: Emperor Hirohito's Speech on Japan's Surrender". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  7. 1 2 "An expert on Japanese affairs told a House panel..." UPI. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  8. 1 2 "One Man's Youth As A 'Stateless Foreigner' In Japan During World War II". www.wbur.org. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  9. 1 2 "Constantine Shapiro, Cellist and Writer, 95". The New York Times. 1992-05-28. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  10. 1 2 Sales, Ben. "This Jewish man survived World War II — in Axis-era Japan". jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  11. 1 2 "JACQUELIN WEISS ENGAGED TO WED; Columbia Law Graduate to Be Bride of Isaac Shapiro, Senior at Same School". timesmachine.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  12. ↑ "Sausalito News 26 July 1958 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  13. ↑ ""Edokko" Author Isaac Shapiro to Speak at Strand". JapanCulture•NYC. 2018-08-02. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  14. 1 2 3 "Partners for Life: Marriages Made at Columbia Law". www.law.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  15. ↑ "Bookshelf | Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  16. ↑ Crabb, Kelly Charles (1983). "Providing Legal Services in Foreign Countries: Making Room for the American Attorney". Columbia Law Review. 83 (7): 1767–1823. doi:10.2307/1122327. ISSN   0010-1958. JSTOR   1122327.
  17. ↑ Margolick, David (1988-03-18). "The Law; At the Bar". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  18. ↑ "A Reflection on Multinational Law Firms and Their China Practices". Jerome A. Cohen | 孔傑榮（柯恩）. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  19. ↑ Torry, Saundra. "STAR LAWYERS BECOME FIELD'S 'FREE AGENTS'". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Japan's New Law Allows U.S. Attorneys to Practice There, but Problems Abound". Los Angeles Times. November 17, 1987. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  21. ↑ Micucci, Dana; Tribune, International Herald (2003-10-25). "A SPECIAL REPORT: ARTS & ANTIQUES: Dismantling of work by Noguchi sets off protests". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  22. ↑ Bernstein, Fred (2015-09-10). "The Uncertain Future of Isamu Noguchi's Works". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  23. ↑ "The Noguchi Room at Keio University: Saved or Destroyed?". www.archnewsnow.com. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  24. ↑ Affairs, United States Congress House Committee on Foreign (1982). United States-Japan Relations: Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives and Its Subcommittees on International Economic Policy and Trade and on Asian and Pacific Affairs, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session, March 1, 3, 9, 17, 24; April 27; June 2, 15; August 4, 1982. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  25. ↑ The Department of State Bulletin. Office of Public Communication, Bureau of Public Affairs. 1972.
  26. ↑ Journal, A. B. A. "10 Questions: Lawyer's memoir recalls growing up Jewish in Japan during WWII". ABA Journal. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  27. ↑ Kiralfy, A. K. R. (January 1964). "The Soviet Legal System. By J. N. Hazard and Isaac Shapiro. (Parker School Studies). [New York: Oceana Publications. 1962. 576 pp. $7.50.]". International & Comparative Law Quarterly. 13 (1): 351. doi:10.1093/iclqaj/13.1.351. ISSN   1471-6895.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.