Reuben Shelton is forging his own way in the field of law.
The 28-year legal veteran has been a longtime advocate for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri and was recently named the organization’s board president.
He becomes the first African American to serve in the position.
“I didn’t even know I was the first African American president of Legal Services until someone told me,” Shelton said.
“I just assumed that other African Americans had led the organization.”
Shelton, an attorney for Monsanto Company, has been with LSEM since he was a third-year law student at Saint Louis University.
He has worked there as a volunteer lawyer and served in nearly every position on the company’s board including vice president.
“It’s a love for the organization and what we do,” Shelton said.
“We help people who really don’t have the financial resources to fend for themselves.”
As a former star basketball player at the University of Kansas, law was not the first career choice for the 6-foot-4 inch Shelton.
“I wanted to be a professional basketball player, but it was apparent that wasn’t going to work out,” Shelton said.
“At some point, I had to figure out what I was going to do next. Law seemed like a good candidate.”
Shelton has worked and served on numerous boards and committees during his three decades in law.
He has worked for the state Attorney General’s Office, Ameren Corporation and Bi-State Development Agency.
In 1997, he became the first African-American president of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis. He was also the first black president of the St. Louis Bar Foundation.
Shelton says his most recent honor feels no different than the rest.
“To me, that’s all that first really means – the first,” Shelton said.
“It doesn’t really give you any special rights or privileges. You still have a job to do, and the goal is to do the best possible job that you can.”
Shelton grew up in north St. Louis where he attended Northwest High School. His father worked two full-time jobs while his mother cared for Shelton’s nine brothers and sisters (a brother passed away earlier). Shelton said his family was his motivation to press on during hard times in his life and career.
“If that’s not motivation to keep pushing and go as far as you possibly can, I don’t know what is,” Shelton said.
When his nose is not in a legal book, Shelton enjoys riding his old-school Harley Davidson motorcycle. He keeps an extra helmet in his office just in case anyone wants to go for a spin.
“But I’ve become a legal junkie now,” Shelton said. “I’ll do this as long as I can until I die.”
Shelton resides in St. Louis with his wife, D’anne, daughters Christan and Heather, and grandson, Garrett Reuben Shelton Blake.
For more information on Legal Services, a not-for-profit organization that provides legal assistance to the low-income community, call 314-534-4200.
