Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram

“They are a 24/7 firm – it gets done regardless.”

Marty Saturn – Executive Vice President, Meisel Capital Partners

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 was an associate at Shearman & Sterling.

Fun Fact:

President Lincoln had a son named Tad.  His dad does too!

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 is fascinated with cars and subscribes to four car magazines.  He usually trades a car in for a new one when it's time for the second oil change.

Judah Lifschitz

Practice Focus:

Litigation and Trial Practice, Construction Law, Government Contracts

Professional Fact:

Judd is a Martindale-Hubbell AV rated attorney.

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:

While at the University of Maryland, Alexis served as associate editor on the Journal of Health Care Law and Policy.

Fun Fact:

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

Susan A. Mattingly

Practice Focus:

Director of Administration

Professional Fact:

Susan has been active in the Washington, DC legal community since 1977.

Fun Fact:

Susan's favorite author is Stephen King.

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:

Jim is such an LSU Tigers football fan, that if you cut him, he bleeds purple and gold.

Ann M. Moody

Practice Focus:

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

Professional Fact:

In a 3-month jury trial in federal court, the judge added Ann's daily log of admitted trial exhibits into evidence, superseding the clerk's daily record of exhibits.

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:

As a representative of the firm, Lauren is actively involved in the Alzheimer's Association and the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

Fun Fact:

Lauren dyes her hair often.  She dyed it dark brunette to participate in the 2008 Blondes vs. Brunettes Powder Puff Football game benefiting the Alzheimer's Association National Capital Area Chapter.

Steven H. Schram

Practice Focus:

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

Professional Fact:

Steve shares his vast experience with others by serving on the board of directors of several privately held corporations.

Fun Fact:

Steve prepares a multi-page detailed itinerary for every family trip.  It includes details such as "relaxing at the pool," "afternoon naps," etc.

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 got bit by the wrong mosquito on an elephant trek in Southern Nepal, which resulted in Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever. He flew back to the U.S. where he recuperated for two months.

Adrianne C. Brakefield

Practice Focus:

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

Fun Fact:

Adrianne medaled at the forensic state championship all four years of high school, once with a perfect score.

Laura Fraher

Practice Focus:

Litigation and Trial Practice, Construction Law, Complex Commercial Litigation

Professional Fact:

Laura worked as a litigation associate for two large New York firms and served as a law clerk for The Honorable Joanna Seybert of the Eastern District of New York.

Fun Fact:

Laura is a fan of musical theatre.  Her favorite musical is Rent, which she saw on Broadway more than ten times.

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:

Through his social fraternity at University of Maryland, Ron quickly learned that politics was not his calling - he ran for a school office and lost by fewer than 5 votes.

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?