Biography
Shannon T. O’Connor is a partner in the employment and labor and public sector groups with a focus on municipal and governmental liability, professional liability, general liability, and matters involving employment and labor. She is admitted to all four federal courts in New York State – Eastern District of New York, Southern District of New York, Northern District of New York, and Western District of New York – as well as to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Shannon defends clients in a range of matters in both federal and state court, and has taken nearly 10 trials to verdict in the Northern District of New York on Section 1983 civil rights matters and Title VII employment discrimination cases. She also has significant appellate experience, and has submitted several briefs to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Shannon regularly defends municipal entities and municipal employees in claims in federal and state courts, and before administrative agencies such as the New York State Division of Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.
Before entering private practice, Shannon served for several years as Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Syracuse, where she represented the city and its officials in a wide variety of litigation and in administrative proceedings before New York State agencies such as the Department of Environmental Conservation. She also provided advice and recommendations to the City of Syracuse Police Department on its policies and procedures related to officer training and the use of force, including tasers, and drafted legal opinions on various City of Syracuse departments, including the mayor’s office.
Experience
Recognition
Upstate New York Super Lawyers, 2020
Upstate New York Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2019
Amicus Service Award, International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA), January 2019
Awarded for her service to the organization’s Legal Advocacy program in a recent case brought against the city of Syracuse. IMLA is a prestigious non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. that serves as a legal resource for local government attorneys. Amicus Service Awards recognize attorneys who are actively involved in legal advocacy for and on behalf of local governments and IMLA, and who have done exemplary work to protect and advance local government interests.
Upstate New York Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2018
Background
Bar and Court Admissions
Admission
United States District Court, Northern District of New York
Western District of New York
Eastern District of New York
Southern District of New York
Second Circuit Court of Appeals
Licenses
New York
Education
Syracuse University College of Law, J.D., 2010
University of Buffalo, 2001
News & Events
Publications
- “Second Circuit’s ‘Melendez’ Decision and the Reasonableness of Emergency-Related Laws,” New York Law Journal, Law.com, January 2022
- “Rules Are on the Way as Erie Revels in Mural Mania,” Erie Times-News, January 2020
- “De-‘coding’ the Visual Landscape: Municipal Sign Ordinances, Murals, and the First Amendment,” IMLA Municipal Lawyer, January/February 2018
- “What’s at Stake When Government’s Data Is Stolen,” Governing The Future of States and Localities, May 2017
- “Guideposts for Assessing Excessive Force,” Defense Research Institute For the Defense, June 2017
- “Is Your Police Department Ready to Implement Body Cameras?,” DRI For the Defense, July 2016