Shane R. Heskin

Shane is a trial lawyer at heart and his diverse trial experience includes both insurance coverage and commercial litigation involving environmental claims and general business disputes. He is also deeply devoted to protecting small business victims against predatory lending practices and has substantial experience litigating usury disputes involving small business loans and Merchant Cash Advances. He is routinely cited as an authority on predatory collection practices, and has testified before the United States Congress concerning these predatory practices. 

Shane also has extensive appellate experience and has argued before New York’s highest court on certified questions from the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, as well as numerous other appellate courts in New York.

Using his experience from litigating dozens of environmental pollution coverage cases involving Superfund Sites, Shane also advises on potential environmental liabilities that might arise from corporate real estate transactions.

Additionally, Shane has written and spoken extensively on allocation issues involving long-term toxic exposures. He authored the chapter on The Allocation of Long-Term Progressive Injuries in "General Liability Insurance Coverage – Key Issues in Every State” (5th edition), and the chapter on Commercial General Liability Policies in the Massachusetts Liability Insurance Manual (Second Edition; MCLE New England 2011).

During law school, Shane served as an associate editor of the Albany Law Review. Prior to joining White and Williams, Shane was Counsel in the New York office of O'Melveny & Myers LLP and an associate in the New York office of Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCoy LLP. In college, Shane was an Academic All-American in football.

• Obtained a $2.55 million jury verdict (including punitive damages) in an unfair competition case involving two Philadelphia-based food distributors
• Defended on appeal summary judgment ruling on named insured issue before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  Bondex Intern., Inc. v. Hartford Acc. and Indem. Co., 667 F.3d 669 (6^th Cir. 2011)  
• Obtained judgment as a matter of law in environmental pollution case based on allocation, owned property and judicial estoppel.   Boston Gas Co. v. Century Indem. Co., 793 F.Supp.2d 511 (D. Mass. 2011), aff’d, 708 F.3d 254 (1^st Cir. 2013)
• Represented insurance client before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in reversing prior Appeals Court precedent on allocation of long-term property damage claim and adopting instead, time-on-the-risk, pro rata allocation. Boston Gas Co. v. Century Indem. Co., 454 Mass. 337, 910 N.E.2d 290 (Mass. 2009)
• Represented insurance client on appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals in reversing jury verdict involving environmental claims on owned property and allocation issues in global coverage action involving contamination at nearly 30 former manufactured gas plant sites.  Boston Gas Co. v. Century Indem. Co., 454 Mass. 337, 910 N.E.2d 290 (Mass. 2009)
• Represented insurance client in defending against numerous other underlying environmental and asbestos coverage actions in California Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania
• Directly defended against dozens of underlying asbestos claims involving pipefitting and boilermaker companies