Robert W. Shaw

Robert Shaw focuses his practice on litigation and state and local taxation. Mr. Shaw has represented clients in a broad range of tax litigation matters, including corporate income tax disputes, sales and use tax, property tax, tax planning, tax exemptions, tax incentives, and constitutional challenges to tax assessments.

He has also represented clients in employee benefits disputes ranging from benefits plan design to disputes over employee benefits under ERISA, as well as commercial cases. Mr. Shaw’s employee benefits experience includes successful litigation of an ERISA dispute before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Robert Shaw focuses his practice on litigation and state and local taxation. Mr. Shaw has represented clients in a broad range of tax litigation matters, including corporate income tax disputes, sales and use tax, property tax, tax planning, tax exemptions, tax incentives, and constitutional challenges to tax assessments.

He has also represented clients in employee benefits disputes ranging from benefits plan design to disputes over employee benefits under ERISA, as well as commercial cases. Mr. Shaw’s employee benefits experience includes successful litigation of an ERISA dispute before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Mr. Shaw's litigation and tax controversy experience has included cases before the North Carolina Business Court, U.S. District Court, North Carolina Superior Court, the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He has lectured and written articles on business law, state and local tax, employee benefits, and antitrust. Before joining Williams Mullen, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Malcolm J. Howard, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Mr. Shaw is a member of the tax law sections and the State and Local Tax Subcommittee of the American Bar Association and the North Carolina Bar Association.  He is a founding member of the Raleigh-Durham chapter of the Institute for Professional in Taxation. He is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in North Carolina, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Mr. Shaw is an Eagle Scout. He serves as chair of the Triangle Federalist Society and director of young adults at Sacred Heart Cathedral. He is active in Legal Aid of North Carolina's Project Together, as well as the music ministries of several area churches. Mr. Shaw is a member of the Young Professionals Network of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and the North Carolina Symphony's Corporate Connections.

A graduate of Wake Forest University, Mr. Shaw earned his B.S., magna cum laude, as a Presidential and Carswell Scholar. He holds an M.A. degree from Duke University and a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where Mr. Shaw graduated with honors and as a Chancellor’s Scholar. Mr. Shaw is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Society. In 2004, he was named the University of North Carolina School of Law Pro Bono Law Student of the Year.