H. Robert Showers, Jr.

About Nonprofit and Church Law - About The Editors

H. Robert Showers, Jr., is a principal partner in Simms Showers LLP and heads up the Metro D.C./Northern Virginia Office where he focuses on civil and commercial litigation and church, nonprofit and business law. He regularly handles numerous lawsuits against church, nonprofit's and small businesses and advises them on risk management, tax exempt and employment issues to avoid future problems.

Prior to joining Simms Showers in 2002, Mr. Showers was a managing owner in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area firm, Gammon & Grange for 13 years where he headed up its litigation department practicing in similar areas of the law. Mr. Showers, through Gammon and Grange, served hundreds of churches and nonprofit's nationwide with legal representation of denominations such as the Southern Baptists Assemblies of God, Presbyterian Church of America, Church of the Nazarene, major ministries such as Mercy Ships, Youth With a Mission (YWAM), Focus on the Family, American Bible Society, International Bible Society, Chosen People, Religious Alliance Against Pornography (RAAP), and numerous associations such as Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability, Christian Camping International, Southern Baptist Camping Association and Christian Legal Society.

Before going into private practice in 1989, Mr. Showers acted as Deputy Assistant Attorney General and served as Executive Director of the National Obscenity Enforcement Unit (NOEU), later called the Child exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), within the U.S. Department of Justice. Through NOEU, he spearheaded the national task force against child pornographers, obscenity traffickers and organized crimes as well as creating a national law center and clearinghouse for anti-pornography intelligence information. He has served as Special Assistant, to the U.S. Attorney General as his criminal justice and drug policy advisor as well as personal liaison to the 93 U.S. Attorneys. Prior to his appointment as Special Assistant, Mr. Showers served as Assistant U.S. Attorney in Raleigh, N.C. where he did a variety of federal prosecutions and handled complex civil litigation as Chief of the Civil Section. Mr. Showers took a leave of absence in 1992-93 to start up and run the nonprofit National Law Center for Children and Families where he served as its first President and General Counsel and still actively participates on the Board as Director and Secretary.

Since leaving the U.S. Attorney's office and Department of Justice, Mr. Showers has assisted numerous cities and counties in drafting and defending ordinances regulating sexually oriented businesses, legally helped victims of crimes, defended churches and nonprofit's in many areas including sexual misconduct and child abuse and represented organizations on many other types of civil and commercial litigation and risk management issues. Mr. Showers has lectured extensively nationwide and written articles on church and nonprofit law, sexual misconduct, and anti-pornography and child sexual abuse.

He is the co-author of Don't Touch That Dial: The Impact of the Media on Children and Family (Huntington House, New Orleans 1993); Child Exploitation and Pornography: A Guide to Prosecutors and Investigations (NLC 1995); Sexually Oriented Businesses: Guide to Cities and Counties (NLC 1995); Legal Hotspots in the Church (Gammon & Grange, 1992, '97, 2001); a series of Child Protection and Risk Management memos for churches and nonprofit's and numerous law review articles, the most notable entitled Regulation of Pornography: The North Carolina Approach (Wake Forest Law Review, Fall, 1986). Mr. Showers has also filed amicus briefs before many federal courts including the U.S. Supreme Court on various constitutional issues.

In 1977, Mr. Showers graduated cum laude from Wake Forest University with honors in History. In 1980 he graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law where he served with distinction on the Law Review and Moot Court Board. Having been married for over 18 years to Evelyn, he has three wonderful daughters. Formerly, Mr. Showers served as Chairman of the Deacons and Sunday school Director and Teacher at First Baptist Church of Alexandria. He has been involved in three new church starts: Providence Baptist (Raleigh, N.C.), New Hope Church (Alexandria, VA) and Gateway Community Church (Herndon, VA) in varying capacities. He presently serves on the Mount Vernon Association Extension and Mission Boards and the National Christian Legal Society Board.