Shawri J. King-Casey

Shawri King-Casey is senior counsel with twenty-five years of experience advising employers, public institutions, boards, and executive leadership on complex employment, compliance, governance, and institutional risk matters. A former litigator, trial attorney and ethics counsel who later served in C-suite and cabinet-level roles, she brings a rare combination of legal rigor, operational leadership, and strategic judgment to high-stakes workplace and organizational challenges.

Shawri regularly conducts comprehensive institutional assessments for clients, including enterprise-wide reviews of policies, programs, and practices where legal compliance, culture, and operational effectiveness intersect. Her work often involves evaluating systems and frameworks across multiple subject areas to identify risk, strengthen governance, and align institutional practices with regulatory expectations and organizational values. She is particularly sought after for assessments that require discretion, credibility, and an ability to synthesize legal, cultural, and leadership considerations into actionable guidance.

She has extensive experience counseling higher education institutions, particularly historically Black colleges and universities, during periods of heightened federal and state scrutiny. Having served at the highest levels of university leadership, Shawri advised boards and executive teams on sensitive matters involving civil rights compliance, employment practices, and institutional risk. She has led and overseen complex internal investigations, advised on high-risk personnel and governance decisions, and supported institutions through crises where legal exposure and reputational harm required careful, seasoned judgment. She also has expertise in university accreditation, advising institutions on compliance with accrediting body standards and the alignment of academic governance, personnel practices, and institutional policies with accreditation obligations.

As a former university Vice President with responsibility for enterprise-wide human resources functions, Shawri managed all aspects of HR operations, including employee relations, benefits, equal employment opportunity, Title VII and related civil rights matters, and litigation arising from the management of employees. In that role, she integrated compliance, HR strategy, and risk management, ensuring that legal obligations were embedded into day-to-day operations and leadership decision-making.

Her practice also includes advising clients on crisis management, regulatory response, and compliance strategy. She assists organizations in responding to audits, regulatory inquiries, and oversight agency engagement, and is valued for her ability to bring clarity and calm to complex, time-sensitive situations.

Before entering higher education leadership, Shawri served as the first General Counsel for the Attorney General’s Office in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In that capacity, she provided counsel to statewide elected officials and government attorneys on matters involving ethics, transparency, procurement, employment, governance, and legal operations across executive branch agencies and state institutions. She previously served on the advisory board of the National Attorneys General Training and Research Institute and the Center for Ethics and Public Integrity Advisory Committee and was frequently consulted by Attorneys General offices nationwide on public integrity, investigatory and government ethical matters.

Earlier in her career, she practiced as both a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, experience that continues to inform her approach to investigations, credibility assessment, and litigation risk.

Clients rely on Shawri for her practical, strategic counsel and her ability to navigate the intersection of law, leadership, culture, and risk with authority and discretion. Her background as a trial attorney, senior executive, and trusted advisor allows her to guide organizations through their most complex and consequential challenges.