Pretoria - The legal fraternity has lost an icon after well-known and leading celebrity divorce attorney Selwyn Shapiro, 54, died last week following a short illness.
His funeral was on Sunday following his death on Thursday.
Tributes have poured in over the weekend from friends and colleagues who said they were shocked and shattered by his death.
Selwyn was fearless in court and divorcing spouses who had him on their side knew they were in the best hands.
Advocate Marc Haskins, who has been best friends with Selwyn for the past 36 years, said he met him when serving articles during 1988.
“Since then we have shared an extremely close friendship and professional relationship until his untimely death.
“Obviously, by virtue of that, we shared memories of good as well as bad or challenging times. The fact is that I certainly consider myself qualified to express a view on the person, Selwyn Shapiro.”
Selwyn was the third child of the late famous divorce lawyer, Louis Shapiro, with whom Selwyn served articles of clerkship while pursuing his studies at Unisa for a BProc degree.
While serving his articles, Selwyn was immediately exposed to high level matrimonial practice and litigation and was effectively trained by his father until his own admission as an attorney.
He also practised for a long time as a director in the firm of his father, together with his older brother, Aubrey Shapiro.
A while after the death of Louis Shapiro, the two brothers continued to practise together until they separated and each continued to practise in different firms.
Haskins said working under his father, Selwyn gained immense experience in divorce law and assisted his father in some groundbreaking cases, which resulted in reported judgments in the law to which students are still referred.
Afterwards he trained many people to become attorneys.
“Selwyn established himself a leading divorce lawyer. In the course of his career he represented many prominent and famous people and also acted against such people on behalf of their opponents,” said Haskins.
In addition, he represented and acted against many high profile political figures and successful business people.
He assisted his father in representing Anneline Kriel, the former Miss World, in her divorce from millionaire showjumper Phillip Tucker.
He also represented Bafana footballer Mark Fish, and singer and actress Amore Vittone against her Springbok rugby-player husband, Joost van der Westhuizen.”
Selwyn also acted against former state president, Kgalema Motlanthe.
“Often, it was seemingly a race between separating spouses to see who would first end up in Selwyn’s office, so as to be able to instruct him to represent them,” Haskins recalled.
But he said his friend did not only act in cases involving rich, prominent and famous people.
He took on all levels of divorce from all levels of society, always attempting to obtain the best result for his client and always representing his client fearlessly, with skill and dedication.
It is often said that the name “Shapiro” is synonymous with “divorce” and, in all respects, Selwyn (and his brother Aubrey) continued the legacy started by their famous father.
Serving in the legal profession as a divorce specialist, Selwyn started his “junior apprenticeship”, as it were, when, as a boy in primary school, he would regularly run around in his father’s law offices, dreaming of one day becoming a lawyer like his father.
Selwyn was not only a dedicated and experienced lawyer, but also enjoyed a rewarding social life.
He took with him on his life journey many close friends, who were his friends for decades in many instances.
Haskins said that to these friends, Selwyn was a positive influence. He was supportive, available, helpful, generous and loyal.
“The fact that Selwyn’s circle of friends was so diverse is a testament to his lack of prejudice.
“The extreme outpouring of grief and sadness from such a wide, diverse and multitude of persons is indicative of the many people whose lives Selwyn Shapiro touched and of the many people who will miss him.”
Haskins said Selwyn was a people’s person.
“He lived a full life enthusiastically and was certainly a larger-than-life figure.”
During their 36-year friendship, they shared lots of personal and professional memories. Haskins said Selwyn was a good and clever attorney.
“He had stage four cancer diagnosed a month or so ago, so the sudden death caused him to avoid a painful, unpleasant journey to what seems would have been a probable death as a result of terminal illness.
“Selwyn was without prejudice, yet extremely proud of his Jewish heritage.”
He leaves three siblings and a daughter, Keziah, who he loved immensely and to whom he was totally devoted.
Pretoria News