Nat Shapo

Nat Shapo is a Partner in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice and Co-Chair of the Insurance Capital Markets Practice.

Mr. Shapo served four years as director of the Illinois Department of Insurance where he consulted with Congress and federal bank regulators on the Gramm-Leach-Bliley (Financial Services Modernization) Act and helped draft the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Statement of Intent for the Future of Insurance Regulation. Mr. Shapo was elected to the NAIC Executive Committee four times: twice as a national officer (as secretary-treasurer and vice president) and twice as chair of the NAIC Midwestern Zone.

At the NAIC, he served as chair of the Functional Regulation Working Group, where he negotiated jurisdictional issues with federal bank regulators. As chair of the International Holocaust Committee Task Force, he was the lead regulatory negotiator of a historic $275 million settlement with the German government and German insurance companies for unpaid Holocaust era policies. He testified before Congress regarding Holocaust issues and he also represented state insurance commissioners in negotiations in Tokyo between the U.S. Trade Representative and Japanese regulators.

As director, he also promulgated rules and regulations to implement Illinois' Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act of 1999, which established an Office of Consumer Health Insurance within the Department of Insurance and guarantees patients new rights in the areas of emergency room care, access to specialists, appeals of health plan decisions, and obtaining plan information.

He sought and obtained passage of laws that eliminate the use of race as a factor in life insurance rating practices; reform and ensure greater accountability in the corporate governance of insurance companies; and monitor and provide civil redress against organized insurance fraud.

In private practice, Mr. Shapo has represented clients in virtually every line of insurance on a wide variety of insurance regulatory, litigation, and public policy matters. He represented the entire property-casualty industry on credit scoring/underwriting issues at the NAIC, in a multi-state market conduct exam, in individual states, and at the Federal Trade Commission.

He has also testified in front of Congress, the NAIC, the Texas legislature, and the Newfoundland Public Utilities Board regarding competitive insurance markets; has published scholarly papers and trade journal pieces about the insurance industry; and has lectured widely throughout the United States and Canada regarding insurance modernization.

He has been named a "Renaissance Regulator" by Best's Review; was chosen for Crain's Chicago Business "Forty Under Forty" list of "newsmakers and groundbreakers"; and was described by the Chicago Tribune as a "rising star." Mr. Shapo has also been listed in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Mr. Shapo has been a Lecturer in Law and has served as a member of the Visiting Committee at the University of Chicago Law School. He earned his B.A., with honors, from the University of Chicago and his J.D., with honors, from the University of Chicago Law School.