Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram

“They are among the finest construction attorneys with whom I’ve ever worked.”

Evans Barba – President and CEO, Barba Consulting

George D. Carry

Practice Focus:

Litigation and Trial Practice, Construction Law, Complex Commercial Litigation, Government Contracts

Professional Fact:

George stays on the cutting edge of both law and technology.

Fun Fact:

Every school George attended from middle school to law school had the same school colors - blue and orange.

Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase

Practice Focus:

Litigation and Trial Practice, Construction Law, Government Contracts

Professional Fact:

Tad is recognized as one of the country's leading experts on the prosecution of "no body" murder cases.

Fun Fact:

Tad lived in Concord, Massachusetts and learned to swim in Walden pond.

Robert A. Foster

Practice Focus:

Business/Commercial Transactions, Corporate/Limited Liability Company/Partnership and Joint Venture Law, Real Estate

Professional Fact:

Bob is a Martindale-Hubbell AV rated attorney.

Fun Fact:

Bob grew up in Illinois and is an Abraham Lincoln buff.

Judah Lifschitz

Practice Focus:

Litigation and Trial Practice, Construction Law, Government Contracts

Professional Fact:

Judd is an accomplished trial attorney who has tried cases to verdict in virtually even type of adjudicative forum.

Fun Fact:

In his free time Judd has written four published books on Judaica topics.

Alexis M. Lockshin

Practice Focus:

Litigation and Trial Practice, Construction Law, Complex Commercial Litigation, Government Contracts

Professional Fact:

Alexis is an impressive communicator and a "I-don't-have-an-answer-yet-but-I'm-working-on-it" kind of lawyer.

Fun Fact:

Alexis is the youngest of 4 children - by 16 years!

Susan A. Mattingly

Practice Focus:

Director of Administration

Professional Fact:

Susan is armed with the best Rolodex in Washington, DC and can put most others to shame.

Fun Fact:

Susan scored the winning points that allowed her high school basketball team to bring home the regional trophy in 1977.

James D. McMichael

Practice Focus:

Complex Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Government Contracts

Professional Fact:

Jim serves as Vice-President of Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram.

Fun Fact:

Oh, has the law been good to Jim!  He and his wife met in law school.

Ann M. Moody

Practice Focus:

As the firm's senior trial paralegal, Ann focuses on Construction Litigation and Civil Litigation.

Professional Fact:

Ann is a past board member of the National Capital Area Paralegals Association.

Fun Fact:

Ann is partial to non-fiction, and especially enjoys reading biographies.

Lauren J. Schram

Practice Focus:

Lauren serves as the primary paralegal for the Business Transaction team.

Professional Fact:

Lauren assists the firm's attorneys with commercial real estate transactions, financing transactions, business/entity formations and various other business transactions.

Fun Fact:

Lauren played on the men's ice hockey team for one week in high school.

Steven H. Schram

Practice Focus:

Business/Commercial Transactions, Corporate/Limited Liability Company/Partnership and Joint Venture Law, Real Estate

Professional Fact:

Steve is Co-President of Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram and serves as the firm's managing principal.

Fun Fact:

Steve loves "chick flicks" and enjoys a good cry at the movies.

Reed P. Sexter

Practice Focus:

Real Estate, Retail and Office Leasing, Business/Commercial Transactions, Corporate/Limited Liability Company/Partnership and Joint Venture Law

Professional Fact:

Reed represents numerous medical and dental practices in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

Fun Fact:

Reed successfully climbed Mt. Rainier (the tallest mountain in the continental U.S.), the Grand Teton and a couple mountains in the Himalayas in Nepal.

Adrianne C. Brakefield

Practice Focus:

Transactional (Commercial, Business Entity Formation, Trial Practice (Construction and Civil)  

Fun Fact:

Adrianne played tackle football for five years.

Ronald S. Shapiro

Practice Focus:

Commercial Real Estate Acquisition and Disposition, Commercial Real Estate Development and Construction, Commercial Lending, Retail and Office Leasing, Troubled Loan Work-Outs, Limited Liability Company/Partnership and Joint Venture Law

Professional Fact:

Ron is a Martindale-Hubbell AV rated attorney.

Fun Fact:

We know where Ron gets his impeccable style - he once was a clothing salesman at a local men's store.

Our People

Our People

Years of practice in big firms have shaped our depth of knowledge in precise areas of law, but we’ve chosen a boutique environment for a reason: we like our clients and our clients like us, and we’ve learned that working the way they need us to translates into success for them and us. Our lawyers are not just any lawyers and they are not junior lawyers. We are a passionate, talented and collaborative team of highly experienced and genuine practitioners that represent clients across the U.S. and in a variety of foreign countries. We gain incredible satisfaction from the practice of law, and that drives us to work harder, longer and smarter than most in our field.

SLS Attorneys:

SLS Paralegals:

SLS Administration:

Did You Know . . .

Members of the SLS trial group have tried in excess of 50 jury trials and 75 bench trials?
The SLS construction group has worked on sports stadiums across the country including Orioles Park in Baltimore and Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati?
The SLS construction group has worked on power plant projects across the country?
In 2007 SLS was selected for an Honorable Mention as one of the Best Places To Work in Washington DC?
Ron Shapiro, Steve Schram and Judd Lifschitz have all been selected as SuperLawyers by Law and Politics?
The SLS office building is an historic townhouse constructed in the late 1800s?
SLS has been selected by Martindale-Hubbell as a Preeminent Law Firm?
SLS trial lawyers have argued appeals in the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal for the 4th, 5th, 9th, D.C. and Federal Circuit?
SLS trial lawyers have been lead trial counsel in cases in Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia, - to name just a few?
Virtually all the cases that SLS trial lawyers mediated have been favorably settled at mediation?

The transactional group at SLS was lead counsel on one of the largest, most complex mixed-use projects in downtown Washington, DC involving 4 lenders and 6 property owners?

In appreciation for the outstanding efforts of each of its employees during 2007, SLS gave everyone (attorneys, paralegals, and staff) a 4 day/3 night expense paid trip to Key West, Florida?
The transactional group at SLS has represented tenants in more than 200 retail leases in the Mid-Atlantic region?
Every attorney in the transactional group at SLS has at least 15 years experience?
The transactional group at SLS has represented developers in the purchase, construction, financing and/or sale of more than 75 multi-family apartment projects?
The transactional group at SLS has represented real estate investors and developers with respect to property in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Michigan and the U.S. Virginia Islands?
Attorneys in the transactional group at SLS have represented eight national banks in commercial real estate loans?
Attorneys in the transactional group at SLS have represented the FDIC, the Resolution Trust Corporation and several banking institutions in loan workout transactions throughout the Mid-Atlantic region?
The transactional group at SLS has represented homebuilders and commercial real estate developers in work-outs of individual loans and also for work-outs of large portfolios involving dozens of properties in several states?
The trial lawyers of SLS have numerous reported decisions to their credit?