Senior Distinguished Fellow, School of Law; Fellow, The Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions

1000 LaSalle Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Office Location: MSL 303
J.D., Harvard Law School
B.S. Georgetown University
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry (Hank) Shea joined the Law School in the fall 2006 semester as a Distinguished Senior Fellow with an additional appointment as a Fellow in the Thomas Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions. Shea also serves as a University Associate at the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He donates his time in these roles.
Shea teaches four courses, Crime & Punishment, White Collar Crime, Ethical Leadership in Litigation, and Ethical Leadership in Social Justice. He also assists the Law School to realize the Holloran Center's mission to provide leading-edge interdisciplinary research, curriculum development, and programs that focus on forming students and practicing professionals into accomplished servant leaders in their communities. As part of that effort, Shea founded and is engaging in a unique collaboration with white-collar offenders, some of whom he prosecuted, to make joint ethics presentations and publish articles book about why they committed their crimes, and the consequences and lessons learned from their misconduct.
Shea was one of the country's most effective white-collar crime prosecutors. He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) for the District of Minnesota for almost 20 years. Between 1994 and 1998, Shea served as the Chief of his Office's Economic Crime Section. From crimes that Shea prosecuted, the U.S. Attorney's Office collected more than $50 million in restitution, fines, and forfeitures.
As an AUSA, Shea received numerous national awards, including a U.S. Department of Justice Commendation (Environmental Division) in 2003, a U.S. Department of Justice Director's Award in 2002 and 2000, and a U.S. Chief Postal Inspector's Special Award in 2000. In June 2007, Shea received the Minnesota State Bar Association Professional Excellence Award for outstanding efforts to advance the legal profession and the administration of justice.
Shea began his legal career through service in the armed forces. After graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1978, and cum laude with a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1981, Shea served for four years, active duty, with the United States Army. He worked as an Assistant to the General Counsel in the U.S. Department of the Army at the Pentagon from 1981-1985. He was awarded the Army's Meritorious Service Medal in 1985. After leaving active duty, Shea continued to serve as an Army Reserve Officer in the Judge Advocate General Corps from 1985-1992.
Prior to rejoining the Justice Department in 1994, Shea was a shareholder with Leonard, Street and Deinard in Minneapolis for two years. Shea also served as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington D.C. in 1985.
Shea also has been a frequent speaker on business and legal ethics and white-collar crime. He has given more than 100 presentations locally and nationally in the last three years.
In addition to his professional achievements, Shea is a member of the Board of Directors of Youth Frontiers, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has served as the chair of the Board of Directors of Benilde-St. Margaret's School in St. Louis Park, Minnesota from 2004-2005, as part of four years of Board service. Previously, he served for eleven years, from 1987 to 1998, on the Board of the St. Louis Park Emergency Program, a non-profit food shelf. For three of those years, Shea served as Board chair.
Selected Cases Prosecuted as Assistant U.S. Attorney
| Number | Title | Credits | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 781 | Ethical Ldershp in Social Just | 2 | ||
| Description of course 781 : | This course will help students explore their roles as ethical advocates, counselors, and servant leaders as members of an honored profession. Students will grapple with the definition of "social justice" and how they can work toward a more just society. The class will highlight various approaches to effecting change, including legislation, litigation, and grassroots advocacy. The course readings will also include theory and highlight profiles of social justice leaders. Weekly speakers on each topical area will enrich students' understanding of the readings, and students will spend the majority of class time discussing the reading materials, their reactions to the speakers, and related questions. The format of the course will be similar to that used in the other two Ethical Leadership courses, which requires students to draft a personal credo, reflective journal, and research selected topical areas of social justice culminating in a presentation to the class. | |||
| 824 | Crime and Punishment | 2 | ||
| Description of course 824 : | This course provides an opportunity for students to examine and confront one of the most vexing criminal justice issues of our time: how should we punish those who break our laws. Guest speakers include prosecutors and defense attorneys, judges and other court personnel, offenders, and others involved in reform efforts. The course may be offered in different formats in different semesters (including, in some semesters, a joint seminar with University of Arizona law students through interactive video). Grading is based on a final paper in lieu of an exam, on journal assignments, and on class participation. Enrollment is limited and requires the instructor's permission (Professor Hank Shea). | |||
| 858 | White Collar Crime | 2 | ||
| Description of course 858 : | This course will examine the substantive law of white-collar crime and the practices, procedures, and strategies relating to federal white-collar criminal investigations and prosecutions. Topics may include conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, bribery and computer and internet fraud, and money laundering. | |||
| 930 | Mentor Externship | 0 | ||
| Description of course 930 : | Each year of law study, students are paired with respected lawyers and judges in the community. Mentors introduce students to a wide range of lawyering tasks and judicial activities and share with them the traditions, ideals and skills necessary for a successful career. Second and third year students participate in an academic credit pro- gram that combines fieldwork with a contemporaneous seminar component. The seminar fosters the habit and skill of reflective lawyering and draws upon student/ mentor experiences to examine the law school's mission in a practical setting. Class topics are designed to bridge the gap between student learning and life as a lawyer. Each student is given the opportunity to individualize learning goals specific to his or her unique path of professional development. | |||
| 950 | Supervised Resrch & Writing | .5 | ||
| Description of course 950 : | Under the supervision of a faculty member, a student may receive up to two hours of course credit for researching and writing a substantial paper on a topic of the student's own choosing. The student must receive the instructor's per- mission to enroll in this course and must meet periodically with the instructor for discussion, review and evaluation. Each faculty member may supervise the research of no more than five students each semester. | |||
Business and Legal Ethics
White-Collar Crimes
My most important research has been to work with more than two dozen white-collar offenders, many of whom I prosecuted as an assistant U.S. attorney, to explore the origins of and reasons for their misconduct, and the lessons to be learned from the crimes they committed and their consequences. We have made more than 150 joint ethics presentations at law and business schools, colleges and conferences throughout the country. The focus of our scholarship has been to compile and analyze these presentations in videos and articles. The work continues.
Upcoming: Promoting ethical behavior and addressing criminal justice reforms through the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions, and my Crime and Punishment and other courses.