- Born
- Birth nameRobert Leslie Shapiro
- Nickname
- The Fixer
- Internationally renowned litigator Robert Shapiro is a senior name partner at Glaser Weil and was named one of the 100 most influential attorneys in America by the prestigious National Law Journal. He has consistently been named to Southern California Super Lawyers, has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America, and is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell.
Mr. Shapiro's business and personal clients rely on his expertise in complex business litigation, class actions representing both plaintiffs and defendants, international law, white collar defense, SEC enforcement, and Foreign Corrupt Practice litigation. His corporate clients include multinational companies and major hotels. Well-known business figures and industry leaders such as Sumner Redstone, Kirk Kerkorian, Steve Wynn, Berry Gordy, Ray Irani of Occidental Petroleum, Scott Minerd of Guggenheim Investments, and Stephen Cloobeck of Diamond Resorts, International, have sought his counsel. He also represents sports figures, entertainers, and celebrities such as Oscar de la Hoya, Darryl Strawberry, Jose Conseco, George Brett, Ricky Henderson, Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen, Billy Preston, Chaka Kahn, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Rod Stewart, Lamar Odom, Rob Kardashian, Smokey Robinson, Robert Evans, Evan Ross, Eva Longoria, and David Lee Roth.
Mr. Shapiro's transition to civil litigation from criminal defense in high profile cases such as those involving O.J. Simpson, Christian Brando, and F. Lee Bailey has given him a unique and extensive trial background. He successfully represented Wynn Resorts Ltd and the Wynn Resorts Board of Directors in the removal of their largest shareholder encompassing 5 years of litigation. He was lead counsel in Rockstar v. Pepsi, a contract dispute involving energy drinks, and successfully negotiated the extension of a distribution contract for his client. His successful representation of the president of Mobil Oil in proceedings arising out of a refinery explosion resulted in the dismissal of all claims and restoration of his client's reputation. His vigorous representation of Ecology Control Industries resulted a favorable settlement of a wage and hours class action. Diamond Resorts has relied on his expertise for numerous corporate and litigation matters involving its vacation, time share, and hospitality businesses. He also successfully defended Occidental Petroleum in a lawsuit brought in Los Angeles by Colombian residents arising out of the bombing in Colombia by the Colombian air force which killed 17 people. He acted as lead defense counsel in United States v. Samango, 450 F.Supp. 1097 (D.Hi. 1978), winning a dismissal of all charges against his client. On appeal, Mr. Shapiro secured Ninth Circuit's affirmance of the dismissal in a published opinion which is the leading decision in the Ninth Circuit on grand jury misconduct. United States v. Samango, 607 F.2d 877 (9th Cir. 1979).
Mr. Shapiro received his undergraduate degree in finance from the UCLA Anderson Business School. He was a member of the UCLA board of governors and numerous honor societies. He received his law degree from Loyola Law School, where he received two American Jurisprudence awards, won the Scott Moot Court Competition, and was the Chief Justice of the Moot Court, as well as the president of the Loyola chapter of the legal society, Phi Alpha Delta.
Mr. Shapiro is admitted to all state and federal courts in California, and has been admitted pro hac vice in many state and federal courts including those of Nevada, Massachusetts, New York, Arizona, Washington DC and Oregon.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Glaser Weil Official Website Bio
- SpouseLinell Shapiro(March 8, 1970 - present) (2 children)
- Defended Christian Brando, the son of Marlon Brando, on charges of murdering his sister Cheyenne's boyfriend Dag Drollett. Shapiro was recommended to Marlon by Marlon's friend William Kunstler, the famous cause attorney who was not a criminal lawyer. Through judicial maneuvering, Shapiro got the court to throw out Christian's jail-house confession as the detective, when warning him of his right to an attorney, failed to inform him of his right to have a public defender appointed to defend him if he could not afford to pay for his own attorney. The detective failed to mention this as he was convinced that Christian would have access to an attorney via his very wealthy father. In fact, Marlon did pay for his son's defense, the court argued that Christian's rights were violated since he had not been informed of his right to a public defender if penurious. This ruling, plus the fact that Marlon had spirited his daughter out of the United States, making it impossible for the court to hear her eye-witness testimony to the shooting, enabled Shapiro to approach the Los Angeles district attorney with a plea bargain. The district attorney accepted Christian's offer to plead guilty to aggravated manslaughter. A sentence was not part of the deal, and while the district attorney pressed for a full 16-year prison sentence for the crime, Christian was finally sentenced to 10 years.
- Graduated from UCLA in 1965; law degree from Loyola University of Los Angeles.
- Had a falling out with fellow attorney F. Lee Bailey during a 1994 federal case in which the two friends and occasional partners in litigation defended one of the world's major marijuana smugglers. As part of a verbal plea bargain negotiated by the attorneys, their client agreed to forfeit his assets to the federal government, including stock holdings whose value had appreciated from $6 million to $20 million between the time of the plea bargain and the date when the federal government attempted to collect. The plea bargain was not in writing, so a federal judge held a hearing to determine the terms of the deal. Appearing as the lead witness for the federal government was Shapiro, who testified that his understanding of the agreement was that the government was entitled to the appreciated portion of the stock. When Bailey did not produce the stock or the cash equivalent, the judge jailed Bailey. After 44 days in a federal detention center, Bailey gave up his claim to the stock and eventually was disbarred by the bar of the state of Florida. Viewing Shapiro's action as a betrayal, Bailey swore never to deal with Shapiro again.
- [During the OJ Simpson murder trial] the media gave their defense team the nickname "The "Dream Team" because the team consisted of prominent lawyers such as F. Lee Bailey, Robert Shapiro, Robert Kardashian and Alan Dershowitz., all led by Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.
- His son Brent died from a drug overdose.
- [on their defense strategy in the OJ Simpson murder case] Not only did we play the race card, we dealt it from the bottom of the deck.
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