Helping people meet the challenges they confront every day in personal and business life is a tremendous privilege. Many of the matters we all confront can be best handled with the advice and counsel of an experienced attorney who can help clients achieve better results.
I have represented individuals and businesses as a trusted counselor since graduating from the Georgetown University Law Center and being admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1981. I always look forward to the challenges presented by new cases, each of which presents its own unique set of questions.
When I say that I have a general practice, it means serving clients in a wide variety of matters. I thrive on the range of challenges and do not claim to be an expert or certified in any area of law. My range and capacity are broad, and I endeavor to help my clients see that all their legal concerns are addressed. The diverse portfolio of matters I have personally and successfully handled has included:
- Federal, civil and criminal jury trials;
- Federal injunctions and appeals, including obtaining a temporary restraining order in United States District Court, winning at trial and successfully defending at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, an $800,000 jury verdict on a breach of contract case based on an oral contract made overseas and to be performed in the United States;
- Civil Rights claims and Constitutional Law, representing plaintiffs and defendants in allegations of serious abuses of governmental authority, including obtaining the extraordinary relief of Temporary Restraining Orders and Permanent Injunctions in Federal Court;
- Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction enforcement actions, both in the United States and internationally, for petitioners and respondents. These have included acting as counsel in the U.S. for parents overseas whose children have been abducted and are utilizing Hague to obtain their return, as well as for parents in the U.S. using Hague to obtain return of children. One matter involved filing an emergency petition in United States District Court, obtaining a Temporary Restraining Order on November 27th, serving the order with U.S. Marshals on November 29th, prevailing at an expedited hearing on December 9th, and restoring the child to the petitioning parent for return home to the child’s country on December 10th;
- Contested Child Custody;
- Wrongful Death claims and Major Personal Injuries including Medical Malpractice;
- Major Felonies and Misdemeanors defended in State and Federal courts;
- Criminal investigations resolved before charges have been brought, without the difficulty of arrest;
- Directly supervising major civil and criminal cases as the responsible decisionmaker in Drug Control, Liquor Control, and Unfair Trade Practices enforcement as the State of Connecticut Commissioner of Consumer Protection;
- Title IX claims and defense in Higher Education and Public Schools;
- Advising on philanthropy and negotiating major charitable gifts;
- Advising a hospital on management, communications and fundraising;
- Structuring and operating business enterprises;
- Employment discrimination claims under Title VII, including the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC);
- Negotiating deals and drafting contracts;
- Crisis management.
My job as an attorney includes fully understanding and effectively representing the interests of my clients as both a counselor and an advocate. I bring my judgment and diverse experience — including my experience in public service — to the task of assessing and analyzing issues, seeking to develop creative alternatives to maximize my clients’ interests given the facts confronted.
I am pleased to consider the issues of those who seek my services as an attorney and to explore the potential of counseling you in maximizing your opportunities. I encourage you to contact me regardless of your ability to pay. Every individual should have access to a lawyer when needed and I accept some engagements on a reduced fee, flexible fee, contingent fee or pro bono basis. There are also statutes where my services may be paid by the opposing party after successful litigation. Please note that no attorney-client relationship will exist unless you formally retain me and I accept the retainer.
Feel free to email me at mark@markshiffrin.com or call me at 203.641.3488 to open a confidential discussion. Please do not send any confidential information in an email or letter prior to the creation of an attorney-client relationship.