Lecturer Bios
Daniel Shapiro, Esq.
Dan Shapiro, is the founder of Shapiro & Associates Law, he has 30 years of experience in the areas of land use, zoning, governmental relations, municipal law, and civil litigation. After practicing at "big law" for most of his career, Mr. Shapiro opened his own office in 2015 in suburban Chicago, which stresses accountability, efficiency, and integrity. He has represented a wide variety of clients including: developers, property owners, businesses as well as governmental entities . He closely advises his clients on complex matters including, securing zoning entitlements before plan commissions, zoning boards, village, and towns. In litigation matters, Mr. Shapiro has also represented his clients at all judicial levels in Illinois and Federal courts.
Mr. Shapiro has been a frequent lecturer on issues such as of land use, public/private partnerships, zoning, and local government relations. He is currently the Mayor of the Village of Deerfield, Illinois and has served as an adjunct professor at Chicago Kent College of Law where he taught land use to 2nd and 3rd year law students.
Ian Brown, Esq.
Ian T. Brown is an attorney with Shapiro & Associates. Mr. Brown has experience in a wide variety of land use, urban development, and environmental matters. Mr. Brown represents developers, landowners, municipalities, and businesses on issues including zoning entitlements, economic development, governmental relations, municipal regulations, and commercial litigation. Mr. Brown works with clients to build a consensus between landowners, community organizations, developers, and government officials.
Before joining Shapiro & Associates, Mr. Brown received a Master of Urban Planning and Policy degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. His studio work included creating development proposals for mixed-use and transit-oriented development (TOD) projects for the Chicago Transit Authority and a regional real estate competition. While in planning school, he worked in transportation planning for Chicago suburb and statewide issues with Pace Suburban Bus Service and Illinois Department of Transportation, respectively. Prior to moving to Chicago, Mr. Brown lived in Louisiana where he worked on a variety of land use issues including flood mitigation policies in coastal communities and redevelopment of adjudicated properties.
Mr. Brown currently serves as the Co-Chairman for the Local Government Committee of the Chicago Bar Association, serves on the Legislative Committee of the American Planning Association, and is the Founding Member of the Suburban TOD Group.
Justin Silva, Esq.
Justin A. Silva is an attorney with Shapiro & Associates Law. Mr. Silva focuses his practice in land use and zoning, municipal and local government, and complex commercial transactions. Mr. Silva counsels clients on real estate development, zoning entitlements, municipal or local government relations and regulatory compliance matters, economic incentives, real property transactions, including real estate entity formation, LOIs, leases, purchase and sale agreements, conducting due diligence, title matters, 1031 exchanges, loan and real property closings. Additionally, Mr. Silva has been involved in numerous real estate litigation matters.
Prior to joining Shapiro & Associates, Mr. Silva worked at Optima, Inc., a national real estate development firm, specializing in multi-family and mixed-use development. During his tenure at Optima, Mr. Silva held several positions including Property Manager, Broker Associate, and Contract Administrator. Silva has been a licensed real estate broker since 2004 and managing broker since 2007. His real estate experience dovetails with his law experience, facilitating his ability to provide clients with a unique and thorough understanding of the development process starting with land acquisition and concluding with property disposition.
Mr. Silva is admitted to practice law in Illinois and before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He earned his B.A. degree from the University of Iowa and his J.D. degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law. As a law student, he was named to the Dean's list all three years and received the CALI Award in Land Use & Zoning - given to the highest scoring student in each law school class.
Mr. Silva currently serves as Plan Commissioner for the Village of Deerfield, Illinois, and as Director of the Lester & Edward Anixter Family Foundation, a private grantmaking charitable foundation.
