Senate Confirms Illinois Native Andrew Schapiro As New U.S. Ambassador to Czech Republic
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement today after the Senate confirmed Andrew Schapiro of Chicago, Illinois, to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Czech Republic. The Senate approved his nomination by voice vote.
“Andrew Schapiro, the son of a Czech immigrant to the United States, brings with him important experience to serve as our next Ambassador to the Czech Republic,” said Durbin. “Given the Kremlin’s recent actions in Central and Eastern Europe, it is a an important time to have confirmed an ambassador to one of our most important NATO allies. I wish Andrew all the best in his new position and know that he is anxious to face this challenge.”
Schapiro attended Homewood-Flossmoor High School in the Village of Flossmoor, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Currently, he is a partner at the international law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan, LLP. Previously, he was a partner at Mayer Brown, LLP from 1998 to 2011, and served as a trial attorney with the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Manhattan from 1993 to 1998. Schapiro also served as a Law Clerk to U.S Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, Judge Richard A. Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, as well as served on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund. He received a B.A. from Yale College, an M.A from Oxford University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.