Jonathan M. Shaw

Partner
Washington, DC

t: 202 274 1123
f: 202 237 6131

jshaw@bsfllp.com

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Area of Practice

Litigation

Education

University of Pennsylvania, J.D., cum laude, 1992; Associate Editor, Law Review

Johns Hopkins University, B.A., History, 1989; Beneficial-Hodson Scholar; Departmental Honors

Clerkships

Hon. Frank A. Kaufman, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, 1992-1993

Admissions

Maryland, District of Columbia, and Washington (inactive)

Jonathan Shaw's main practice area is complex commercial litigation.

Before joining Boies, Schiller & Flexner in 2005, Mr. Shaw was a partner in the Seattle office of Susman Godfrey, a national litigation boutique. There, he represented plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes commercial, class action, and antitrust litigation throughout the United States. He was twice recognized in surveys of prominent Washington lawyers as a Rising Star of the Washington State Bar. From 1993-1998, Mr. Shaw was an associate at Wiley, Rein & Fielding, a Washington, DC law firm where he specialized in commercial, antitrust, and insurance-coverage litigation. His representative cases include:

Successfully represented Genesco Inc. in bench trial against UBS and Finish Line. Court rejected the defendants' fraud and material adverse event claims and ordered Finish Line to close on its $1.5 billion purchase of Genesco. (Tennessee Chancery Court);

Successfully represented a shareholder class in securities fraud action against Genzyme, Inc. Case settled on the eve of trial for $64 million. (New York federal court);

Successfully represented BS&F client in insurance coverage matter. Brought in after insurer had denied coverage for over a year worth of defense costs, I convinced them that their denial of coverage was improper and the coverage claim settled for substantially more than the total amount of my client's out-of-pocket defense costs;

Successfully defended the New York Yankees against emergency motions by community activists trying to derail construction of the new Yankee Stadium (New York state and federal courts);

Defending Qwest against multiple securities, fraud, and RICO actions in the United States and the Netherlands relating to its investment in a European joint venture (Arizona state court, New Jersey federal court; Dutch Enterprise Chamber, London arbitration);

Successfully defended Northwest Airlines in contract-based preliminary injunction case against Amadeus, a provider of computerized reservation services to travel agents (New York federal court):

Successfully represented Northwest Airlines when it asserted antitrust, Lanham Act, and state law claims against Sabre, another provider of computerized reservation services to travel agents. Case settled favorably (Texas and Minnesota federal courts);

Successfully defended Seattle-based REI against hundreds of millions of dollars in claims brought by Bank of America and Chase Manhattan Bank over affinity card programs. Case settled favorably (Washington state court);

Successfully defended Azurix Corporation against a $31 million lawsuit arising out of a real estate deal. Claims dismissed and client recovered fees and costs (California federal court);

Represented the estate of a young cancer victim in medical malpractice action. Only lawyer in the United States to persuade a court to extend malpractice liability to a physician whose only connection to the patient's care was his negligent consultation with her treating physician. Case settled before trial (Washington state court);

Successfully defended Clear Channel Communications against five related lawsuits alleging various business torts, breaches of contract, and antitrust violations. After Clear Channel won summary judgment on most issues, the case settled for nuisance value on the eve of trial (Washington state and federal courts, Texas federal court);

Successfully defended Jacobs Engineering Group against more than $700 million in wrongful death and business interruption claims arising out of an explosion on the Olympic Pipeline. Defendant Olympic Pipeline impleaded Jacobs only four months before trial. Aggressive defense was so successful that Olympic Pipeline tried to dismiss its claims against Jacobs voluntarily a month before trial rather than have us and our experts in the courtroom. Because Olympic sought a dismissal without prejudice that would have permitted it to raise the claims in a later action, we opposed its motion to dismiss its own claims. The case settled confidentially and very favorably while that motion was still pending (Washington state court);

Successfully defended Alaska Airlines against a consumer class action challenging its refund policies. Obtained dismissal of all claims, which was upheld through multiple levels of appellate review (Washington state court);

Represented Alaska Airlines in a dispute over a leased aircraft engine. Case settled favorably after Alaska successfully opposed plaintiff's attempt to compel arbitration (Washington federal court);

Successfully defended a commercial plant nursery against Bank of America's attempts to collect on a promissory note. Creative, focused defense led to a confidential settlement that kept client in business (Washington state court);

Successfully represented Zurich Insurance Company in coverage litigation against Baxter relating to HIV-contaminated clotting factorate. Case settled confidentially and very favorably (California state court, Illinois state and federal courts);

Successfully defended Kohler in multi-million dollar dispute with its former Saudi distributor (Wisconsin federal court); and

Successfully assumed defense of law firm in dispute with former partners. The client had represented itself at trial and lost substantial jury verdict. The case settled favorably after post-trial motions convinced trial judge to cut damages awarded by more than 95% (D.C. Superior Court).