Shea & Gardner

Shea & Gardner

Shea & Gardner was a Washington, D.C.-based law firm that practiced from 1947 to 2004 when it merged with Boston-based Goodwin Procter. The firm was founded by two Roosevelt administration officials, Francis M. Shea and Warner W. Gardner. Shea was a Harvard Law School graduate who became dean of the University of Buffalo Law School. In 1939, he was appointed Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice, heading the Claims Division (today the Civil Division). Shea also served on the staff of his friend, Justice Robert H. Jackson, in summer and fall 1945 preparations for the prosecution in Nuremberg of leading Nazi war criminals. Gardner, a Columbia Law School graduate, served in the Office of the Solicitor General under Jackson and, in the U.S. Army during World War II, at Bletchley Park, England.

Shea & Gardner became a Washington institution, known for its litigation, lobbying and regulatory expertise. Its client list included many regulated industries, including railways, mining companies and airlines. Notable clients included Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Freeport-McMoRan, U.S. Gypsum and Newmont Mining.

The firm also represented pro bono the Iraqi National Congress, a U.S. supported opposition group. The firm registered as a foreign agent in order to represent the Iraqi exiles.

In 2004, the firm and its 75 attorneys joined expanding national firm Goodwin Procter. Shea & Gardner partners settled on Goodwin Procter because the firm had a small Washington, D.C. office of only 12 attorneys and the legacy Shea partners could play a large role in shaping and growing the profile of the combined firm in the nation's capital.