Shea & Gardner

Last updated

Shea & Gardner was a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, formed in 1947 and acquired by Boston-based Goodwin Procter in 2004.

Contents

Founding and clients

The firm was founded by two Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration officials, Francis M. Shea and Warner W. Gardner. After World War II, Shea and Gardner decided to form a firm with an unusual emphasis on the brilliance of the individual attorneys. Shea and Gardner became a highly respected Washington institution, known for its litigation, lobbying and regulatory expertise. Its client list included many regulated industries, including railways, insurance companies, mutual funds, maritime companies, mining companies and airlines. Notable clients included Prudential, American President Lines, Cassiar Mining, Fidelity Investments, Peadody Coal, Freeport-McMoRan, U.S. Gypsum, Newmont Mining, and the National Railway Labor Conference.

The Firm also represented the Iraqi National Congress, a U.S.-supported opposition group. The firm registered as a foreign agent in order to represent the Iraqi exiles. [1] Another notable representation was a successful challenge to the FDIC's brokered deposit regulations. During the late 1980s the firm handled major bank failure cases including First Republic (then the largest bank failure in US history) and Bank of New England. The firm was old fashioned in that many lawyers were generalists more than specialists. And although there were adjustments, compensation was largely tied to seniority.

The firm did take on diverse and big projects, like emergency boards in railway labor disputes, cleanup of superfund sites, compliance programs to remediate legacy computer systems, and national asbestos-related litigation and claims. The firm prided itself on its pro bono work and generally left the selection of pro bono up to individual partners. One partner, William Sheehan, for example, was allowed to represent a Georgia inmate on death row. Another partner, Jeff Martin, was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's. The firm encouraged Martin 's advocacy for patients and Martin became Chairman of the Board of the Parkinson Action Network and a member of the NIH's National Advisory Council on Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Martin also litigated to uphold embryonic stem cell research and became a leading advocate for increased funding of medical research. The 2003 book "Merchants of Immortality", by prize-winning science writer Stephen Hall, describes Martin's activity in great detail. The firm supported those activities. Around 2003, despite strong financial performance, Shea & Gardner began to look for a merger partner in light of the changing marketplace for legal services and the challenges facing mid-sized firms. The partners settled on Goodwin Procter because that firm had a small Washington, D.C. office of only 12 attorneys and the legacy Shea partners could play a large role in shaping and growing the profile of the combined firm in the nation's capital. [2]

Shea and Gardner for many years hosted the offices of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.

Warner Gardner

Warner Gardner's memoir, "Pebbles From the Path behind," discloses that the ill-fated FDR court-packing scheme was a brainchild of his. During Gardner's last Supreme Court argument—which he won—Lockheed v. Thomas, Chief Justice Burger allowed Gardner to continue speaking a full five minutes after the red light went on, a gesture of respect virtually unprecedented.

Frances Shea

Shea was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, He was a son of New Hampshire state senator and attorney Michael Shea and Margaret (Muldoon) Shea. He attended and graduated from Dartmouth College (A.B., 1925) and Harvard Law School (LL.B., 1928). Following law school, Shea obtained, through a referral from his law school professor Felix Frankfurter, a position practicing law with a prominent attorney, John Lord O'Brian, in Buffalo, New York. From 1929-1933, Shea lived in Buffalo and practiced with the law firm of Slee, O'Brian, Hellings and Ulsh. During the Great Depression Shea served in many government posts.

Notable alumni

The firm is notable for its alumni who went on to teach at leading law schools or to serve in high government positions.

Related Research Articles

Holland & Knight LLP is an American multinational law firm with more than 1,700 lawyers and other professionals in 35 offices in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and North Africa. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, the firm provides representation in litigation, business, real estate, construction law, intellectual property and governmental law. It is one of the largest law firms in the world by revenue and attorney count. Holland & Knight specializes in representing major Fortune 50 companies and corporations globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law firm</span> Business entity formed to practice law

A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other matters in which legal advice and other assistance are sought.

Goodwin Procter LLP is a global law firm. It is one of the largest law firms in the world as measured by revenue and consists of more than 1,800 lawyers across offices in Boston, Cambridge, Frankfurt, Munich, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, New York City, Paris, Philadelphia, Santa Monica, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Singapore, and Washington, D.C. Goodwin focuses on complex transactional work, high-stakes litigation and advisory services in matters involving financial institutions, intellectual property, private equity, real estate capital markets, securities litigation, white collar defense, technology and life sciences.

Wayne Budd is senior counsel at Goodwin Procter, in the firm's Litigation Department, where he specializes in advising clients on business and commercial litigation matters. Past senior executive vice president and general counsel, U.S., of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc., a division of Manulife Financial. He was responsible for directing all of the company's legal activities as well as overseeing the compliance, human resources, governmental affairs and community relations functions for the Company.

Proskauer Rose LLP is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1875 and currently employs more than 800 attorneys in twelve offices worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nixon Peabody</span> Law firm

Nixon Peabody LLP is a Global 100 Boston-based law firm with more than 700 attorneys collaborating across major practice areas in cities across the U.S. and in international offices in London, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. In addition to the firm's Boston headquarters, it maintains U.S. office locations in New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, Albany, Buffalo, Manchester, Rochester, and Providence. The firm ranks 67th on Vault's top 100 law firms and, as of 2015, 75th on American Lawyer 100.

Sidley Austin LLP is an American multinational law firm with approximately 2,000 lawyers in 20 offices worldwide. It is one of the largest law firms in the world by revenue. It was established in 1866 and its headquarters is at One South Dearborn in Chicago's Loop. The firm specializes in a variety of areas in both litigation and corporate practices. It is widely considered to be one of the most recognizable and prestigious law firms in the United States. Among its notable alumni are Former President Barack Obama and Former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, also known as Hale & Dorr and WilmerHale, is an international law firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. It is co-headquartered in Washington, D.C. and Boston. It was formed in 2004 through the merger of the Boston-based firm Hale and Dorr and the Washington-based, firm Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, and employs more than 1,000 attorneys worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiley Rein</span> American law firm

Wiley Rein LLP is one of the largest law firms in Washington, D.C., United States. With 240 lawyers, the firm represents clients in complex regulatory, litigation, and transactional matters. Many of the firm's lawyers and public policy advisors have held high-level positions in the White House, on Capitol Hill, and in federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the U.S. Department of Justice. The firm operates in industries including energy, manufacturing, defense, aerospace, intelligence, information technology, professional services, telecommunications, health care, architectural and engineering (A&E), and construction.

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is an American multinational law firm with approximately 2,200 legal professionals in 31 offices across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Mergers with other law firms stimulated global growth and led to a ranking of eighth on American Lawyer's 2018 top 100 firms by gross revenue list. It is also the largest law firm chaired by a woman, and represents "three-quarters of the Fortune 100 companies."

Clayton Utz is an independent Australian law firm headquartered in Sydney, Australia. Established in 1833, it is generally considered a leading law firm, and has been known as one of the "Big Six" Australian law firms. The firm is recognised for its litigation practice, government clients, pro bono services and high-profile alumni. In 2013, the firm had an annual revenue of $436 million. As of 2021 it had 179 partners and 1,600 personnel in six offices.

Lane Powell PC is an American law firm based in Seattle, Washington, with offices in Anchorage and Portland. The firm was established in 1875, making it one of the Pacific Northwest’s oldest and longest-running law firms. Today it employs nearly 200 lawyers. The firm’s clients include individuals, startups, and large businesses, offering corporate, regulatory, and litigation services.

Crowell & Moring is an international law firm headquartered in Washington, DC, with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, Chicago, Indianapolis, Denver, London, Brussels, Doha, and Shanghai. With approximately 600 lawyers, the firm advises multinational corporations on regulatory, litigation, corporate, and investigations matters. As of 2022, Crowell & Moring is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States in The American Lawyer's "AmLaw 100" list, based on gross revenue.

Blank Rome is an Am Law 100 firm with 14 offices and more than 650 attorneys and principals who provide legal and advocacy services to clients in the United States and around the world.

Dinsmore is a large U.S. law firm with a lead administrative office in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is an AmLaw 200 and National Law Journal 250 firm, and has been named to the U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers Best Law Firm lists. The firm consists of more than 750 attorneys practicing in 29 cities throughout Ohio, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Washington D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Brown (lawyer)</span> American lawyer

Elizabeth Merrill "Lisa" Brown is an American lawyer who is the current General Counsel of the United States Department of Education. She previously served as the first White House Staff Secretary in the Obama administration, assuming that post on January 20, 2009. Earlier, during the 2008–2009 presidential transition, she served as Co-Chair of Agency Review. Prior to joining the Obama Transition Team, she served as Executive Director of the American Constitution Society, a progressive legal organization.

Squadron, Ellenoff, Plesent & Sheinfeld was a New York City-based law firm that practiced from 1970 to 2002 when it merged with Washington, D.C.-based Hogan & Hartson, when the Squadron Ellenoff name was discontinued.

Francis M. Shea was an American lawyer, law professor and United States government official.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faegre Drinker</span>

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, also known as Faegre Drinker, is a full-service international law firm and one of the 100 largest law firms in the United States. Formed in February 2020 by the merger of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP and Drinker Biddle & Reath, the firm provides legal counseling and litigation to a wide range of clients across many practice areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela Harris (judge)</span> American judge

Pamela Ann Harris is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Prior to joining the federal bench, she was an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and visiting professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and executive director of its Supreme Court Institute.

References

  1. ↑ Jim Lobe, 'New champions of the war cause,' Asia Times, Nov. 6 2002.
  2. ↑ Lauren Bayne Anderson, 'D.C., Boston Law Firms to Merge,' Washington Post, July 14, 2004, E01.
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.