Edward Emmet Shea, lawyer, educator and writer, b. May 29, 1932, Detroit, MI. He was the first of five children born to Edward Francis Shea and Margaret Kathleen (Downey), a postal worker and a teacher, descending from Irish immigrants to New England and the Midwest. He married Ann Marie Conley August 28, 1957. They raised three children: Michael, Maura and Ellen.
He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Detroit (A.B., 1954) and his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School (LL.B., 1957). He served as a Lieutenant, Assistant Staff Judge Advocate, in the U.S. Air Force (Strategic Air Command), from 1957-1960.
He admitted to the state bar of New York, Michigan and Florida. He was a member of the Association of the Bar of the city of New York and the sections of the American Bar Association: Science and Technology; Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Law; and Antitrust Law.
Until 2022, Edward Shea was a partner of Windels Marx Lane and Mittendorf in New York City. He was a member of the firm’s Corporate and Securities Practice Group and chair of the Environmental Practice Group. Additionally, he practiced law at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft and Simpson Thatcher in New York; and Dykema Gossett Spencer Goodnow & Trigg in Detroit.
Before joining Windels, Ed served as Senior Vice President at GAF Corporation in Wayne, NJ. From 1972-1981, Ed worked as Chairman of the Board and as Vice President and General Counsel and Secretary at Reichhold Chemicals, Inc. in White Plains, NY. Both were NYSE-listed multinational Fortune 500 Corporations.
Alongside his law practice, Ed served as Adjunct Professor of Finance at the Graduate School of Business of Pace University since 1982, and as a lecturer at the New York Institute of Finance since 1995. He taught courses in securities regulation, mergers and acquisitions and international finance. He lectured on environmental subjects at the State University of New York and at seminars sponsored by the New York State Bar Association and the New Jersey Industrial Development Association.
Ed authored several books, including the McGraw-Hill Guidebook to Acquiring and Divesting Businesses (1998), Introduction to the U.S. Environmental Laws (Oceana, 1995) and The Lead Regulation Handbook (Government Institutes, 1996). He served as editor for the 1991 and 1992-3 editions of the Acquisitions Yearbook for the New York Institute of Finance (Simon & Schuster), and he co-authored Acquisitions, Mergers, Sales, Buyouts and Takeovers (Prentice Hall, 1991). Ed also wrote numerous articles for The Practical Lawyer, The New York Law Journal and The University of Detroit Law Journal.
Although his professional work was his life’s centerpiece, Ed had a lifelong love of opera and theater. He was a member of the New York Athletic Club for 38 years. He sang with musical organizations such as Mendelssohn Glee Club in NYC and the Westchester Chorale. He directed a choir for church services while serving in the U.S. Air Force. Since 2008, Ed served as trustee and treasurer at the Pearl Theater, and as a board member of the Theater for the New City in New York City.