Robert M. Shaw

Robert M. Shaw is a litigation attorney in Holland & Knight's Boston office. He has successfully defended against many complex lawsuits and arbitrations over his more than 18 years in practice.  

Mr. Shaw has extensive experience fighting class actions, having litigated precedent-setting cases arising out of consumer claims, employment practices and catastrophic disasters. Representative examples include:

• won a complete victory in a national consumer class action in which plaintiff sought statutory damages under a strict liability statute in excess of $1 billion
• won early dismissals of four consumer class actions filed against a national retailer
• successfully defended a barge company in state and federal class actions arising out of a 98-mile coastal oil spill, reaching a favorable resolution following jury trial
• successfully defended an employer against a class action by eliminating more than 90 percent of the putative class
• won early dismissal of an employment misclassification claim

In addition, Mr. Shaw represents foreign governments and their state-owned companies. These engagements included the defense of a suit against a company owned by the United Kingdom and an arbitration arising out of the construction of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's embassy in Ottawa, Canada. Most notably, Mr. Shaw has been honored to serve as lead counsel to Ukraine in several high-stakes cases, including: 

• currently defending Ukraine against a $172 million claim brought against it by a Russian oil company
• currently defending Ukraine's National Bank against a $306 million claim arising out of the failure of a commercial bank
• won a complete victory against a $272.5 million contract claim
• won a complete victory against a $35.7 million foreign judgment enforcement action
• won a complete victory against a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act claim
• won a complete victory against an expropriation claim

Mr. Shaw also represents businesses and industries facing attorney general and regulatory scrutiny, from civil investigative demands to enforcement proceedings. He recently led a successful effort to prevent part of a ballot referendum and its enabling relegations from coming into effect on constitutional grounds.

Additionally, Mr. Shaw represents companies in complex commercial litigation, including claims for breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty, false advertising and consumer claims.

Mr. Shaw has an active appellate practice, having won appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First,  Ninth, Eleventh and District of Columbia Circuits, as well as the Massachusetts Appeals Court and Supreme Judicial Court.

In his pro bono practice, Mr. Shaw has represented two wrongfully convicted prisoners, several candidates for political asylum and a disabled child.