Michael P. Shanahan - Indianapolis-Downtown, IN

Mike is a car guy. In 1993, Mike started working for Bob Rohrman at Indy Honda where he was a finance director the majority of his career. In 2002, Mike left the dealership and worked toward finishing his accounting degree and entering law school. Mike obtained his undergraduate degree from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in Indianapolis, graduating number one in his class. He was honored as the Chancellor's Scholar. He was employed as a consultant/accountant for K.B. Parrish & Co., LLP, while finishing his undergraduate degree and pursuing his law degree at Indiana University School of Law. While at K.B. Parrish, Mike did consulting work for automobile dealers across the country. Upon graduating from law school, he took employment at a mid-sized Indianapolis law firm and began his legal career, accomplishing a great deal in a short time. Since then, Mike created Indiana Dealer Counsel and became Of Counsel to Mallor Grodner LLP, fostering a team of attorneys representing all types of dealer interests.

Mike has real in-dealership experience along with experience in nearly every area of automotive law. He can immediately identify with dealership industry issues and provide pragmatic advice. He believes in and has demonstrated a team approach to problem solving, correctly building legal teams, where appropriate, to quickly direct work to the proper attorney. Mike was instrumental in helping numerous dealers with the Federal Cash 4 Clunkers program, Chrysler and GM bankruptcies, sales tax issues, doc fee class actions, succession planning, corporate formation/structuring, reinsurance companies, facility agreements, floor plans, OEM Agreements, DMS and other vendor agreements, many of the largest buy-Sell transactions in Indiana, warranty and incentive audits, Attorney General investigations, dealer services issues, manufacturer disputes, EEOC claims, other employment claims, succession and estate planning, and more.

Mike has also assisted dealers by providing education and general business compliance advice. During his career, starting at K.B. Parrish and continuing through today, Mike has presented individualized training seminars for dealers and their managers. He has presented seminars to numerous dealer groups and associations, including the National Association of Dealer Counsel, in which he has been a participating member since shortly after its inception. Mike has written articles on many of the legal issues that impact the automotive retail industry and for several years worked directly with Indiana's dealer associations to assist dealer members with a variety of legal concerns. Mike is familiar with the myriad of things the association does and how it utilizes its retained counsel. He has maintained a relationship with the Association, via its board members and executive vice president, for years.

Mike's peer group includes hundreds of dealership owners, executives, and general managers, as well as attorneys, CPA's, consultants, industry vendors, OEM executives, and Association EVP's across the country. Mike also has relationships and regular communications with the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and was responsible for their involvement in the Doc Fee Class Actions. He is an active member of the National Association of Dealer Counsel (NADC) and an avid pickleball player.