"Vancouver's toughest and ablest courtroom lawyer." – Peter Newman, Author of “Titans”

A King’s Counsel, for the past 25 years, Mr. Shapray holds an AV Preeminent Martindale-Hubbell@ rating for legal skills and ethics, the publication's highest level of professional excellence. His peers have repeatedly recommended Mr. Shapray in Lexpert surveys for his "litigation prowess," and his skills have also been recognized by “The Best Lawyers in Canada”, the UK based Chambers & Partners and Benchmark Litigation. He has been named "Securities Litigation Lawyer of the Year in Canada" in 2015 by Corporate INTL, and was named 2015 Elite Libel & Slander Lawyer — Canada by Corporate LiveWire. Mr. Shapray is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Fellow of Litigation Counsel of America . Mr. Shapray has been recognized by Benchmark Canada as one of Canada's Top 50 Trial Lawyers.

A graduate of McGill University Law School with two Law Degrees (B.C.L. and LLb.) and a Kings Counsel, Howard is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb.) He also attended the Harvard Law School, Negotiation Institute course, “Mediating Disputes Workshop”.

Mr. Shapray has appeared as counsel in all levels of the Canadian courts, including the Supreme and Appeal Courts of British Columbia, the Superior Court of Ontario and the Ontario Court of Appeal, plus the Alberta Queen's Bench and Alberta Court of Appeal.

Over the years, Howard has successfully prosecuted and defended corporate disputes, property and environmental cases, mining cases, securities regulatory disputes, fraud and conspiracy claims, professional liability claims, libel and slander, commercial arbitrations, intellectual property issues, and matrimonial and estate disputes. His cases have made both law and headlines. 

When Howard co-founded a new litigation boutique, ‘Shapray Cramer” in 1993, his goal was to create a top-tier litigation firm focused on the resolution of intense, complex disputes. He noted "Our success has often been measured by our ability to negotiate a favourable settlement for our client, most often achieved through energetic and strategic positioning”.

Between 1996 and 1998, Howard represented one of Canada’s best known mining executives in the Ontario Courts involving a 200 million dollar (CDN) lawsuit and seizure known as a Mareva injunction obtained by the government of United States of America over his alleged personal liability for the cleanup of pollution in the Colorado River. The claim was ultimately dismissed and Howard obtained recovery for his client against the US Department of Justice for over $1.6 million in litigation costs based upon the false claim against his client. 

In another notable case involving a massive conspiracy to manipulate securities in companies on the Vancouver Stock Exchange, United Services Funds (Trustee of) v. Lazzell, 1988 CanLII 2883 after Howard closed his client’s evidence, the presiding trial judge as she then was, Madam Justice Southin, reported in her Reasons for Judgment the following:

At the beginning of Mr. Reiner's closing submissions, this exchange took place between him and Mr. Shapray:

MR. REINER: My lady, in respect to Mr. Carter himself in the U.S. Funds action, there is really nothing worthwhile that I can say other than to ask for a blindfold and a cigarette.

THE COURT: Well, I can lend you a cigarette, but we are not allowed to smoke in here.

MR. REINER: Unfortunately, I am not a smoker, but I -

THE COURT: I think what you should simply say, Mr. Reiner, is that you do not think that there is anything which you can usefully submit on the point and pass on to the next one.

MR. REINER: I believe that's what I was attempting to say.

THE COURT: Yes. Well, that's all you need to say. You need say no more.

In the closing paragraphs of the successful multimillion dollar judgment, Justice Southin referred to the work of the plaintiff’s counsel as “a remarkable achievement”. 

In 2008 Howard was retained to act as counsel in the dispute over the right to acquire the Vancouver Canucks hockey team. He was later lead counsel for the same client in a lawsuit against the Government of Canada over the liability for cleaning up unexploded munitions (UXOs) existing in a massive sale of a large property used as a mortar training ground for cadets during World War II. The multi-million dollar claim for the clean up of the site near Vernon, B.C. was ultimately favourably settled by the Government paying for the anticipated cost of the clean up of the property. 

In 2013 Howard and his partner, Brad Cramer obtained judgment in excess of $96 mIllion in a case involving ownership of a silver mine in Mexico.

In 2014, Howard successfully defended the British Columbia Medical Association and its executive directors against a libel suit brought by a fellow board member 

In 2020 Howard joined some of his former partners in Kornfeld LLP also known as Kornfeld Shapray and Partners. In June 2025, Howard departed KornfeldLLP/Kornfeld Shapray and Partners to create his own firm, “Shapray Legal Strategies” that focused on ADR , Alternative Dispute Resolution, 

Shapray Legal Strategies represents a new direction for Howard to channel the skills and resources he has learned over his career into techniques to mitigate the costs, delays and other problems that conventional litigation creates for timely, inexpensive and focused dispute resolution.