I was just a high school student when Judge Charles Shaw (who passed on April 12 at age 75) invited me to his court room for the first time. When he learned that I was interested in becoming a lawyer, he invited me to shadow him at the federal courthouse. The lessons I learned from him that day and over the next 20 years have indelibly shaped my life and career.
As a naive high school freshman, I expected that I would spend the day observing from the cheap seats. Was I ever wrong! Instead, he sat me on the bench next to him as he presided over matters. Not only did he explain in his own classic fashion what was going on, but he also asked me my opinion.
I’ll never forget him asking a defendant that day if they would rather have justice or mercy. He then posed the same question to me.
That same day he promised me, an unsure high school freshman, that if I decided to go onto law school, he would mentor me. He kept his promise. Not only did I intern for the judge as a law student, but my first job out of law school was serving as his judicial clerk. Â
My proudest day as an attorney was the day he swore me onto the federal bench. By example Judge Shaw taught me that we must seek justice, but we also must love mercy. Throughout my life I have been honored to be guided by great men. I count the judge among the greatest.
Daniel R. Brown is a founding partner at Smith Brown LLC and a St. Louis County Municipal Court judge.
