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Elected Member

Sopen
B.
Shah

Location
Madison, WI, USA
Affiliation
Perkins Coie LLP
Education
Harvard University
Yale Law School

Sopen Shah is a commercial litigation partner at Perkins Coie. She is an award-winning brief writer and experienced oral advocate. She has briefed appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court; the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Ninth, Eighth, Seventh, Fourth, Second, First, D.C., and Federal Circuits; and the Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Washington Supreme Courts. In 2020, she won the State Bar of Wisconsin's biennial “Best Brief” award. Sopen has argued in the Seventh and Second Circuits, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the California Court of Appeal, and the Washington State Board of Tax Appeals.

Sopen also handles high-stakes litigation in trial courts, including a voting rights case in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin and a multimillion-dollar shareholder-dispute trial in Dane County Circuit Court.

Before joining the firm, she argued the state’s high-profile criminal and civil appeals as deputy solicitor general of Wisconsin. After graduating from Yale Law School, Sopen clerked for the Honorable Debra Ann Livingston, now-chief judge of the Second Circuit, and the Honorable Amul R. Thapar, then of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Before law school, Sopen was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and a financial analyst at Bloomberg.

Member News

Traynor on Liberty, Law, and Democracy

In his essay "Liberty, Law, and Democracy: Are There Grounds for Realistic Optimism?" Michael Traynor, former President of The American Law Institute, reflects on the challenges facing American democracy amid political polarization and institutional strain. He examines threats to the balance between liberty and law, citing dysfunction across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, while drawing on historical context and recent scholarship to frame these concerns.

Despite his sober assessment, Traynor maintains a guarded optimism rooted in America’s resilience, civic traditions, and individual potential to effect change. He highlights positive actions within the legal community, nonprofit organizations, and among engaged citizens, while outlining five practical steps Americans can take to strengthen democracy: improving civic education, demanding accountability, fostering open debate, participating in elections and local governance, and resisting simplistic solutions.

Traynor concludes that democracy is “stubborn work,” incremental, imperfect, and ongoing, but expresses confidence that Americans have the resolve to preserve it.

Read the full article The New Nationalist

Michael Traynor is senior counsel at Cobalt LLP in Berkeley California. He served as ALI President from 2000 to 2008, and as Chair of the Council from 2008 to 2011. He is also a recipient of ALI's Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Traynor is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.   He received the John P. Frank Outstanding Lawyer Award from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is an honorary life trustee of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and of Earthjustice and a past President (1973) of the Bar Association of San Francisco.