MICHAEL F. SHAW was born in Canton, South Dakota, on July 18, 1957, and was raised in Pierre. He attended the University of South Dakota and later graduated from Western Kentucky University in 1981 with a bachelor's degree. Mr. Shaw continued his education at the School of Law, University of South Dakota, graduating with a Juris Doctor degree in 1987. While in law school, he was a member of the Delta Theta Phi legal fraternity and was president of the Student Bar Association, 1986 to 1987. He was admitted to the South Dakota Bar in 1987 and was admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota in 1988. Mr. Shaw served as law clerk to the Honorable James W. Anderson, presiding judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit for the State of South Dakota, from 1987 to 1988 and joined the firm in June, 1988. He is a member of the South Dakota State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association, and the International Association of Gaming Regulators.

Mr. Shaw currently is a partner at the law firm of May, Adam, Gerdes & Thompson in Pierre, South Dakota. He has an extensive administrative law and lobbying practice. He currently serves as lobbyist for the South Dakota Association of Specialty Care Providers, the state association of surgical hospitals. He also represents other entities in the health care field, including American Family Insurance, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and the South Dakota State Medical Association. Other lobbying clients include the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and DeSmet Farm Mutual Insurance Company. in the past he has also represented other insurance company clients, farming interests, manufacturers of farm machinery, and has assisted the South Dakota Gaming Commission with its legislative efforts.

Recently, Governor Mike Rounds appointed Mr. Shaw to the Risk Pool Advisory Board. The Advisory Board assists and advises the Risk Pool Governing Board, the entity responsible for managing and directing South Dakota’s recently created Risk Pool, the State-operated health insurance for high-risk individuals. Mr. Shaw also worked extensively on the legislation creating the Risk Pool which was passed during a special legislative session in June 2003. In 1998, Mr. Shaw was nominated by Governor William Janklow to the Governor's Task Force on Workers' Compensation. The Task Force did a detailed study on the laws of workers' compensation in South Dakota and made specific legislative recommendations to the 1999 South Dakota Legislature. As a result of that Task Force, significant changes in the laws of workers' compensation were enacted in the 1999 Legislative Session. In the past, Mr. Shaw has also lobbied extensively in the areas of workers' compensation, health insurance, and property casualty insurance.

Rounding out his legal field, Mr. Shaw acts as General Counsel for the South Dakota Commission on Gaming, represents insurance carriers and agents before the South Dakota Division of Insurance, and actively participates in both plaintiff and defense trial litigation as well as workers’ compensation litigation.

Mr. Shaw successfully represented the South Dakota Commission on Gaming in Black Hills Novelty Company vs. South Dakota Commission on Gaming, 520 NW2d 70 (SD 1999). This often-cited case dealt with gaming operators delegating the performance of audit and security functions to other licensed individuals.

Michael F. Shaw