This year, Rachel E. Shaw became the first Black female partner in Pryor Cashman history. She is a partner in the Litigation Department, where she specializes in real estate, hospitality, and complex landlord-tenant litigation. She is also the Chair of the firm's Diversity Committee. Lauded by judges for her trial skills and courtroom advocacy, Rachel takes a targeted, thoughtful approach to provide cost-effective counsel to her clients. With nearly two decades of litigation experience, Rachel has represented, advised, and negotiated on behalf of national landlords and tenants, hotel owners and operators, publicly-traded real estate investment trusts, lending institutions, condominiums, cooperatives, and some of New York City's largest commercial landlords.
Rachel's promotion to partner was highlighted by ALM Media and Law.com in a special report profile titled 'How I Made Partner.' The below is an excerpt from the publication:
What's the biggest surprise you experienced in becoming a partner? I'm Pryor Cashman's first black female partner. In addition to all of the love and support I've received from being promoted, the recognition and acknowledgment of that achievement from my network, and from all over the country, has been incredible. In particular, the recognition I've received from other women attorneys has been quite surprising. From the female partners at my firm, to the women of various networking groups, to my lifelong friends, it seemed like every woman in my life was right there with me, celebrating and honoring my success, recognizing the impact of the role I play in shattering that glass ceiling for women in the law who look like I do.
Describe how you feel about your career now that you've made partner. I feel motivated. I feel as if I'm just getting started. I recognize the role I play for my junior colleagues as a diverse partner in the male-dominated field of real estate and in overall law firm culture. I feel as if it's my responsibility to normalize BIPOC (Black and Indigenous people of color) being experts at things other than diversity initiatives. While I am incredibly proud of the achievements of our Diversity Committee, I am so proud of my firm for recognizing, nurturing and honoring my skills as a fierce, competitive and determined real estate litigator, and I look forward to building on those skills and really building a practice for myself at Pryor Cashman.
Along with a Q+A-style profile in print, Rachel was interviewed via video. A link to the profile, a PDF of the feature, and the video interview are accessible below.
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