Isaac Shapiro (born 1931) is an American lawyer with

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1948, the firm consistently ranks among the top U.S. law firms by revenue. The company is known for its wor ...

. He is an expert in

Soviet law The Law of the Soviet Union was the law as it developed in the Soviet Union (USSR) following the October Revolution of 1917. Modified versions of the Soviet legal system operated in many Communist states following the Second World War—including ...

Japanese law The law of Japan refers to legal system in Japan, which is primarily based on legal codes and statutes, with precedents also playing an important role. Japan has a civil law legal system with six legal codes, which were greatly influenced by Ger ...

, and served as the president of Japan Society. He has also written widely about Japan and Japanese-American relations.

Biography

Shapiro was born in Japan in 1931 as a

Stateless person Stateless may refer to: Society * Anarchism, a political philosophy opposed to the institution of the state * Stateless communism, which Karl Marx predicted would be the final phase of communism * Stateless nation, a group of people without ...

. His father was Constantine Shapiro, a Russian Jewish musician who left the country with his family after the Russian Revolution. The elder Shapiro lived in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where he was the first cellist of the

Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester The Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester ''(Frankfurt Opera House and Museum's Orchestra)'' is the resident orchestra of the Oper Frankfurt. Its somewhat peculiar name is derived from the series of "Museum Concerts", organized by the Frankfurte ...

, and moved to Japan, where he pioneered the establishment of Western classical music. His mother was a concert pianist who met and married the elder Shapiro in Berlin, before leaving for

Harbin, China Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...

, and Japan. He is also a nephew of concert pianist Maxim Shpairo and Russian-French philosopher

Vladimir Lossky Vladimir Nikolaievich Lossky (russian: Влади́мир Никола́евич Ло́сский; 1903–1958) was a Russian Eastern Orthodox theologian exiled in Paris. He emphasized '' theosis'' as the main principle of Eastern Orthodox Christi ...

. Shapiro grew up in the Japanese-occupied Harbin and

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He studied at Saint Joseph College, Yokohama but his studies were interrupted by the war. He moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1945, after then-marine officer John C. Munn hired him as translator and was made his guardian. He attended Punahou School in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, graduating from Columbia College in 1954, and

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1956. He was also a Fulbright scholar and studied at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. He joined Milbank Tweed upon graduating from law school and opened the firm's first Japanese office in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

in 1977, which led to protests from the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, resulting in a freeze on the establishment of foreign law offices in Japan. However, his trailblazing effort subsequently led to the entry of other foreign law firms. In 1986, he joined

and headed its international practice, opening its practice in Japan. He became of counsel to the firm in 2001. Shapiro was a director of

Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi is the largest bank in Japan. It was established on January 1, 2006, following the merger of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. and UFJ Bank Ltd. MUFG is one of the three so-called Japanese "megabanks" (along with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp ...

Foundation in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and served as a past president of the

Isamu Noguchi was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and severa ...

Foundation. He also served as president of the Japan Society from 1970 to 1977. He is the author of ''Edokko: Growing Up a Foreigner in Wartime Japan,'' an autobiography of his childhood. He was also the author of ''The Soviet Legal System,'' a textbook on Soviet law, co-written with Columbia law professor John N. Hazard. In 2006, Shapiro was awarded an Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon by the

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...

for his service in promoting U.S.-Japan cultural relations.

Personal life

Shapiro is married to Jacqueline Weiss, who he met at Columbia law. Weiss comes from a family of rabbis and is a niece of the former rabbis of Congregation Emanu-El in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and the

Rockdale Temple The Rockdale Temple, Kahal Kadosh Bene Israel (19th-century spelling K. K. Benai Israel), is the oldest Jewish congregation west of the Allegheny Mountains, the oldest congregation in Ohio, the second oldest Ashkenazi congregation in the United St ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shapiro, Isaac Living people Japanese Jews 20th-century American lawyers Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom people Columbia College (New York) alumni Punahou School alumni Columbia Law School alumni University of Paris alumni Jewish American writers Stateless people 1931 births