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Attorney
By
Attorney
Career Profiles of the Profession
Who?
Name:
Howard Shapiro
Howard@mtphs.com
What?
Primary Practice Area & Subspecialty Fields:
Employee Benefits Litigation, Management Side; Labor & Employment Law, Management Side.
When?
In Practice Area:
Since 1979
In the Legal Profession:
Since 1979
Where?
Employer:
McCalla, Thompson, Pyburn, Hymowitz,
& Shapiro, L.L.P
http://www.mtphs.com
Size/Sector:
20 lawyers, 3 offices, private practice.
City/State:
New Orleans, LA
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Law School:
Loyola University of New Orleans,
School of Law, New Orleans, LA,
May 1979.
Other Post-Graduate Education:
M.A., History, McGill University,
Montreal, P.Q., Canada, 1975.
Undergraduate School/Degree:
Tulane University, B.A., 1972.
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Why?
Pluses/Challenges of Practice Area:
Labor & Employment Law, representing management, is an area where we provide advice and litigate every social issue that impacts American society. Every social issue that exists finds its way into the American work force. Name an issue that concerns you, gender pay discrimination, glass ceiling issues, disability, equality of benefits, equality of opportunities for all Americans, health issues; in short, any issue being discussed in contemporary society, is dealt with in some form or fashion by Labor & Employment lawyers. Employee Benefits is a sub-set of this practice. With the "graying" of America, as the gargantuan "baby boomer" segment of the population ages, as a society we will see increased pressure on public (Social Security) and private retirement plans. The debate on health care and health plan coverage will intensify as the "boomers" age and become more frequent and expensive users of our health care system. These demographic factors mean that the employee benefits area will be a flash point for intractable societal issues. Employee benefits lawyers will be at the forefront of responding to these complex challenges.
Core Skills/Key Knowledge Needed in Your Practice Area:
Heavy emphasis on writing and comprehension of difficult, Constitutionally based cases. Ability to assimilate detailed fact information, such as what actually happened in the work place that day, and apply these facts to difficult, rapidly changing case law.
Advice to Lawyers and Law Students Interested in Your Practice Area:
Make sure you are a people person, because labor, employment, and benefits lawyers, all solve "people problems." Take a few labor and employment courses in law school and see if this area is something that agrees with you.
How?
Career Path to Current Position:
I served for two years as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert F. Collins, United States District Court Judge, United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana. During my tenure I participated as a Law Clerk in the trial of many Title VII cases. The area of civil rights and the law appealed to me and led to my accepting a position at McCalla, Thompson, a boutique firm that limits its practice to management side labor, employment, and employee benefits law.
Influences and Mentors:
Robert K. McCalla, Robert F. Collins.
Suggested Reading About Your Practice Area:
Developing Labor Law; Employee Benefits Law; and Employment Discrimination Law. These are all publications of BNA and the Section of Labor & Employment Law.
Job Search Techniques Used in Finding Your Position(s):
Not sure what lawyers are doing today in addition to web browsing and head hunters. I found my job the old fashioned way through a friend who was at my firm already and by sending in a résumé.
Bar Affiliations and Activities:
Member of the American Bar Association, Section of Labor & Employment Law. Currently serve as a Council Member, Section Labor & Employment Law. Member of the Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB) and served as the Chair of the JCEB from 1997 -1998. Currently serve as Chair of the CLE Subcommittee, JCEB. Past Chair of the Employee Benefits Committee, Labor & Employment Law Section, 1985 - 1988; Past Chair of the CLE/Institutes & Meetings Committee, Labor & Employment Law Section, 1993 - 1995; Member of the ABA's Standing Committee for Continuing Education of the Bar, 1995 - 1998. Listed by the National Law Journal as one of the Top 40 Benefits Lawyers in the country in the category of litigation representing management (1998). Selected to be on the initial Board of Governors for the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel (2000).
Recent Professional Publications:
Employee Benefits Law, Second Edition (BNA 2000); ERISA Preemption: To Infinity and Beyond and Back Again, 58 LA. LAW REV. 997 (1998); Fiduciary Duties to Inform Under ERISA, 14 THE LABOR LAWYER 503 (Winter/Spring 1999); Unum Life Ins.: New Preemption Position by DOL, (DRI 1999).
Recent Professional Presentations:
ERISA Traps for the Unwary, Pacific Coast Labor & Employment Law Committee, May 16, 2001; ERISA Basics, May 31, 2001, New York, presentations on ERISA Preemption & Benefit Claim Litigation.
Memorable Career Moment:
Being named in a National Law Journal Article, May 1998, as one of the top 40 Benefits Lawyers in the country in the category Litigation: Management.
Intriguing Interests:
Raising children; devoted baseball fan.
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