Anthony Shannon

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Age: 30

Title: Associate Attorney

Company: Shipman & Goodwin

Location: Hartford

Hometown: Hartford

College: North Carolina A&T State University (Undergraduate); University of Connecticut School of Law (Graduate)

Bio

As an attorney in the school law practice group at Shipman & Goodwin LLP for the past four years, Anthony Shannon has handled labor negotiations, arbitrations and other labor and general legal issues affecting boards of education across the state. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University’s Graduate School of Education teaching law and public education.

Prior to law school, Shannon was an engineer at United Technologies where he supported the company's infrastructure and assisted with digitizing work processes to improve business efficiency.

Shannon is the president-elect of the statewide black bar association, the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association. He volunteers his time tutoring students at Wish Elementary every Tuesday throughout the regular school year and is a volunteer reader at Burr Elementary School in Hartford. He also is a coach in the West Hartford Youth Basketball League, something he has done for the last three years.

Shannon lives in downtown Hartford and was born in Bridgeport.

Q&A

What is the best thing someone would say about your career thus far? Some of the most important aspects of being a good attorney include being responsive and a good listener. My clients have full access to me throughout the day to reach me for issues. If I am unavailable to take a call or respond to an email, I make it my priority to at least get back to them to acknowledge receipt even if I am unable to answer their question immediately. Furthermore, I try my best to listen to my client's needs and get them the results that they desire to the best of my ability. I also try to develop relationships with my clients to foster a feeling of confidence that I will handle their issue as if it were my own and zealously advocate on their behalf.

If there is one person whose life and career you want to imitate, who would it be? If there was one person whose life and career I would want to imitate, it would be President Barack Obama. This is not because I possess an aspiration to become president, but because I admire his courage to pursue his dreams in the face of adversity. The road to presidency was bumpy and even a dangerous endeavor at times. Yet he continued to move forward. I never want fear to prevent me from pursuing a goal that I believe in, whether that is professionally or otherwise. President Obama is living proof that sometimes in order to achieve greatness one must possess the willingness to take a risk. I aspire to possess that courage.