Mr. William E. Shannon | Attorney

Mr. William E. Shannon

Mr. William E. Shannon

Settle Meyer Law

Experience: 49 years
Language(s): Arabic

Top Local Lawyers

About William

William Shannon has over thirty years of international legal, business and investigative experience.  He has focused on major international business transactions, including joint ventures, project finance, mergers and acquisitions, compliance and due diligence matters, privatization projects and multilateral lending by international financial organizations.

Before joining SHANNON SAKAMOTO, Mr. Shannon was a partner in a law firm in Hawaii and was counsel and resident partner in major U.S. law firms in Tokyo, Moscow and Riyadh.   He has served as Counsel at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, as a consultant to the Romanian Privatization Ministry in Bucharest, as Senior Legal Advisor to the largest oil company in Saudi Arabia, and as a legal consultant to a law firm in Doha, Qatar.  Mr. Shannon was one of the first foreign attorneys to be licensed as a Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi and authorized to practice law in Japan.  Mr. Shannon was also an intelligence officer and Special Agent with the Office of Naval Intelligence, and during that period he was the Senior Special Agent in Iceland and Resident Special Agent for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Representative Transactions

  • Represented financial institutions and investors with regard to equity investments, joint ventures and project financing in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. 
  • Advised major U.S. defense contractors in Saudi Arabia with regard to compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
  • Represented a consortium of Japanese financial institutions with regard to financing the purchase of U.S. assets, including the Four Seasons Hotel at Wailea, Hawaii and the Turtle Bay Hilton at Kuilima, Hawaii.   
  • Represented an American oil company with regard to a residual oil recover project on Sakhalin.
  • As counsel to a multilateral lender, provided legal advice regarding loans and equity investments in the countries of the former Soviet Union, including Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Poland, Ukraine, Bosnia Herzegovina, Russia and the Czech Republic.
  • Conducted maritime casualty investigations in Japan at the request of international protection and indemnity clubs.
  • Advised and counseled officials of the Romanian Privatization Ministry with regard to the privatization of government owned enterprises pursuant to a World Bank financed and directed program.
  • Represented the Qatar national petroleum company with regard to a U.S. $ 1 billion IPO.

Bar Admissions

  • New York
  • Hawaii
  • Maine
  • Japan as a foreign qualified attorney (Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi), 1988-1992

Education

  • Cornell Law School, Ithaca, New York
    Juris Doctor with Specialization in International Affairs
  • U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, New York 
    Bachelor of Science with Honors

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • American Bar Association
  • Hawaii State Bar Association
  • Maine State Bar Association
  • ABA International Law Section
  • Tokyo American Club
    Member
  • Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan
    Member

Languages

  • German
  • Russian

Admission

Verified Georgia

1977

Verified Iowa

Education

University of Iowa College of Law