The Practicing Law Institute website has announced the passing of PLI President, Anita Shapiro. In 2015, Shapiro appointed as their first female President. She joined PLI in 1999 as a program attorney, then rising from Vice President to Executive Vice President until her appointment as President in 2005. According to her Linked In profile, Shapiro spent two years as a Litigation Marketing Manager at Mayer Brown.
Many in the law librarian community may also remember Shapiro as a Westlaw Account rep in New York City from 1990 to 1999. Shapiro remained a great supporter of the law librarian community and she sought the perspective of law librarians who participated with other legal professionals on the PLI Advisory Board.
More about Shapiro from the PLI In Memoriam page:
Combining a law degree with a background in the liberal arts including advanced studies in music and dance, Anita had exceptional insight and sensitivity as well as a keen understanding of the legal and business worlds. Under her leadership, PLI remained the standard-bearer for continuing legal education, strengthening the profession with timely content and essential pro bono programs to ensure access to justice. Thanks to her foresight, the organization invested in best-in-class talent and technologies well before the COVID-19 pandemic and was able to pivot quickly to live webcasts, on-demand programming and online publishing capabilities to ensure customers could access content remotely. During the pandemic, she also oversaw the relocation of our San Francisco office, keeping the project on track and the team connected.
Anita’s leadership contributed to PLI’s success in numerous tangible ways. PLI grew its Privileged Membership to include over 95% of the Am Law 100 and over 50% of Fortune 500 companies in recent years. With the re-launch of its website in 2019, PLI saw increased usage across all of its offerings. Reflecting Anita’s dedication to PLI as a nonprofit organization committed to pro bono, complimentary registrations for individuals and groups serving clients in need soared past 250,000 during her tenure as President.
PLI’s Board of Directors voted to appoint Craig Miller as Interim President. Craig, who previously served as Senior Vice President, joined the organization in 2017.