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- Professionals
- Matthew S. Shapanka
Matthew Shapanka represents and counsels corporate, political, and individual clients in criminal, regulatory, and policy matters before government agencies and Congress. He also advises candidates, companies, PACs, nonprofits, and high net worth individuals on compliance with federal and state campaign finance, election, and lobbying laws.
Prior to attending law school, Mr. Shapanka worked as a research analyst in the Massachusetts Recovery & Reinvestment Office, where he worked on all aspects of state-level policy, communications, and compliance for federal stimulus funding awarded to Massachusetts under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. He has also worked for federal, state, and local political candidates in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
- Advising corporate (for-profit and non-profit), political, and high net worth individual clients, including candidates, PACs, Super PACs, and trade associations, regarding:
- Federal and state campaign finance laws and regulations;
- Federal and state pay-to-play rules; and
- Federal and state lobbying and ethics laws.
- Representing Fortune 200 technology company on intellectual property policy and legislation.
- Representing trade association on intellectual property policy and legislation.
- Representing large pension fund on pension policy and legislation.
- Representing major financial institutions in investigations before congressional committees.
- Represented multiple large pharmaceutical companies responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests before federal agencies.
- Represented individual criminal defendant in federal conspiracy and bribery prosecution.
Pro Bono
- Representing national homelessness advocacy organization on housing legislation before Congress and the Administration.
- Representing newspaper in First Amendment prison censorship litigation.
- Representing Alabama inmate attacking capital sentence in state habeas corpus proceedings.
- Successfully represented Native American tribe in securing formal legislative recognition in the State of Delaware.
Memberships and Affiliations
- American Bar Association
- Massachusetts Bar Association
- American Constitution Society
- Tufts Lawyers Association, Board Member
- National Eagle Scout Association
Previous Experience
- Law clerk for state senate candidate in successful defense of ballot access before the Massachusetts State Ballot Law Commission. Allen v. Lesser, Mass. SBLC 14-01 (June 20, 2014).
- United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Intern, Economic Crimes Unit (2014).
- United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Judicial Intern, Hon. Amy Berman Jackson (2012).
- Commonwealth of Massachusetts Recovery & Reinvestment Office, Research Analyst (2009-2011).
July 3, 2017, Global Policy Watch
The U.S. House Committee on Appropriations is considering a major change to the way trade associations are allowed to raise money into their political action committees (PACs). Currently, if a trade association wants to solicit money from its member companies’ employees, it must first get advance approval from the company, and each company can authorize...… ...
July 3, 2017, Inside Political Law
The U.S. House Committee on Appropriations is considering a major change to the way trade associations are allowed to raise money into their political action committees (PACs). Currently, if a trade association wants to solicit money from its member companies’ employees, it must first get advance approval from the company, and each company can authorize...… ...
April 24, 2017, Global Policy Watch
In response to the unprecedented use of the Congressional Review Act (“CRA”) by the 115th Congress and the Trump Administration, the Center for Biological Diversity (“Center”), a nonprofit dedicated to wildlife conservation, filed a lawsuit in an Alaska federal court challenging the constitutionality of the Act. The CRA is a statute that requires federal ...
December 14, 2016, Global Policy Watch
As the President-elect begins to nominate individuals for Senate-confirmed positions in his administration, one of the major hurdles these individuals face is the statutory requirement that the Director of the Office of Government Ethics (“OGE”) review and certify a public disclosure of each source of income exceeding $200 and each property interest exceeding ...
December 13, 2016, Inside Political Law
As the President-elect begins to nominate individuals for Senate-confirmed positions in his administration, one of the major hurdles these individuals face is the statutory requirement that the Director of the Office of Government Ethics (“OGE”) review and certify a public disclosure of each source of income exceeding $200 and each property interest exceeding ...
December 13, 2016, Covington Alert
As the President-elect begins to nominate individuals for Senate-confirmed positions in his administration, one of the major hurdles these individuals face is the statutory requirement that the Director of the Office of Government Ethics (“OGE”) review and certify a public disclosure of each source of income exceeding $200 and each property interest exceeding $1,000 in value. While for many classes of assets, identifying and disclosing the relevant assets is relatively straightforward, it is often much more difficult to file a compliant report for pooled investment fund assets, such as hedge funds, since the details of the underlying assets are often undisclosed to the investor by the fund manager or subject to a confidentiality agreement between the investor and the fund manager. This client alert summarizes the most recent OGE guidance applicable to pooled investment fund holdings.
November 29, 2016, Global Policy Watch
In just five short weeks, the 115th Congress will convene in Washington. Now that Republicans control majorities in both houses and the White House, Republican leaders hope to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn regulations issued by the Obama Administration over the past few months. According to a recent Congressional Research Service ...
July 26, 2016, Global Policy Watch
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued two private letter rulings (PLRs) that may be interesting for tax-exempt organizations that engage in political activity. In the first ruling, the IRS held that a company could not deduct payments made to charity under a PAC matching contribution program as an “ordinary and necessary business expense.” ...
July 25, 2016, Inside Political Law
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued two private letter rulings (PLRs) that may be interesting for tax-exempt organizations that engage in political activity. In the first ruling, the IRS held that a company could not deduct payments made to charity under a PAC matching contribution program as an “ordinary and necessary business expense.” ...
June 2, 2016, Global Policy Watch
A recent settlement between the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) and Massachusetts Republican Party may highlight an emerging trend: state parties using federal preemption to avoid strict state campaign finance laws. At issue was whether the Massachusetts Republican Party could use funds from its federal campaign account to pay for ...
June 1, 2016, Inside Political Law
A recent settlement between the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) and Massachusetts Republican Party may highlight an emerging trend: state parties using federal preemption to avoid strict state campaign finance laws. At issue was whether the Massachusetts Republican Party could use funds from its federal campaign account to pay for ...
March 22, 2016, Global Policy Watch
As Congress becomes further embroiled in election-year politics, especially a high-stakes standoff between the White House and the Senate Judiciary Committee over the President’s nomination to the Supreme Court, it appears ever more likely that 114th Congress will end in December 2016 without passing comprehensive patent legislation. With the House and Senate ...
October 8, 2015, Covington Alert