Howard S. Shafer

Howard S. Shafer is a Partner in the law firm of Shafer Partners, LLP, in New York, NY, where he represents defendants in cases involving chiropractic malpractice, construction law, employment law, nursing home liabilty, personal injury, professional liability, cyber liability and data privacy, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Drones) and insurance matters. With more than 28 years of experience in the Insurance and Corporate Liability Defense area, he represents businesses in New York City, Westchester County, and Long Island, as well as in New Jersey.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Labor Studies from Rutgers University, Mr. Shafer earned his law degree from Brooklyn Law School. He is licensed to practice in the state courts of both New York and New Jersey, as well as before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Mr. Shafer currently serves on the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association Corporate Counsel Section, is the Vice-President, Planning of The Jewish Lawyers Guild and is President of Your House Counsel (R), The National Consortium of Insurance and Corporate Liability Defense Law Firms. He is also an elected Bergen County New Jesey Municipal Committee Representative and Vice-Chair of the Englewood New Jersey Planning Board. Past positions include: Arbitrator for the New York City Civil Court; Board Member of the Englewood New Jersey Economic Development Corporation; Member of the Englewood New Jersey Zoning Board of Adjustment; Past Chair of the New York State Bar Association Corporate Counsel Section; and Past New York State Chair of the Claims and Litigation Managment Alliance.

Recognized for his knowledge and experience, Mr. Shafer has been invited by professional organizations to lecture on legal topics on numerous occasions. The attorney peer review service Martindale-Hubbell gave him its highest rating, AV Preeminent.*

Mr. Shafer is a member of the Bergen County Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association and the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC).

While we have many relationships and accomplishments, two of them truly speak to who we are.

Our firm has represented the largest private security company in the country for the past 15 years and Howard Shafer has personally represented them for over 25 years through four General Counsel. Their work includes auto, premises, security and civil rights work. We have represented them almost exclusively in the downstate New York area and also in Northern New Jersey.

In 2013 we applied for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority tort litigation panel. The MTA maintains the panel for all sister agencies. The New York City Transit Authority is one of those agencies. The volume of litigation and number of defense counsel on their panel would likely rival many small states. When we got on the panel we were not optimistic about seeing work from it. We started getting work which initially included Note of Issue (trial readiness) reports and depositions. The first time we visited the office, many of the Staff Attorneys and Bureau Chiefs knew our firm simply from our reports and raved about us. While the work we were getting was nice, we again thought it unlikely that we would see trial work from the Transit Authority. We did get an opportunity to try one of their cases and with a great result we had the opportunity for more. We have quickly become a go to trial firm for them and one of their regulars. There are few entities that try as many cases as they do.

*AV®, AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.