Bernis Shapiro is of counsel to Silverberg Zalantis LLP. Most recently, she served as Corporation Counsel of the City of New Rochelle for 12 years. In addition to her responsibilities of managing in-house and outside counsel and providing general counsel to the City Council, City Manager, and City departments, she negotiated, prepared disposition agreements, and coordinated the closings for the major New Roc City, Municipal Garage, New Roc Air Rights, Avalon, and Trump Plaza redevelopment projects which brought 1300 new market-rate dwelling units; 700,000 square feet of new retail, commercial, and hotel development; and a new 2300 parking space garage to downtown New Rochelle.

Bernis started her career with the City of Peekskill where among other planning, zoning, legislative, prosecution, and defense responsibilities, she handled the documentation and closings for the major HUD and IDA funded industrial, commercial, and residential redevelopment projects in the 1980's including those at Charles Point, St. Peter's, St. Mary's, Villa Loretto, and Mount St. Florence.

She additionally served in the private sector for 10 years, handling complex planning, zoning, landlord tenant, and estates matters. During this period, she was District Counsel to the Montrose Improvement District where she was instrumental to the formation of the Northern Westchester Joint Water Works comprised of the Towns of Yorktown and Cortlandt and the Montrose Improvement District.

She is an active member of the Municipal Law Sections of both the New York State and Westchester County Bar Associations. In 2008, she addressed the annual meeting of the State Municipal Law Section on the topic of "The Lawyer Lobbyist and Disciplinary Rule DR 7-104.A.1 or When is a Lawyer a Lobbyist and When is a Lobbyist a Lawyer?"

Bernis graduated from New York Law School where she gained her interest in municipal law and municipal home rule under the inspiration of Bernard Richland, former Corporation Counsel of the City of New York. Her undergraduate degree is from Barnard College, Columbia University where she concentrated in Chinese politics and language. Prior to law school, she worked and studied in Japan.