On a cold day last month, Booker Shaw took off his black robe after his final court session, but this time he removed more than just the cloak.
He also shed the title of judge for the first time in a quarter century.
A member of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Shaw retired to become a partner with Thompson Coburn, one of St. Louis’ most prestigious law firms.
“After 25 years, I had decided that if a compatible situation arose, I’d look at it,” Shaw said last week, his first with the firm.
“It is one of the great firms in St. Louis, and I had great relationships with Thompson Coburn lawyers as a judge.”
A St. Louis native, the 57-year-old Shaw won re-appointment to the Court of Appeals in 2004 and was not up for voters’ review until 2016.
But he said it was time to take on a new challenge.
‘I’ve been fortunate enough to get to work right away,” said Shaw, a partner working with litigation and appellate litigation practices.
“Also, I’ve known some of the attorneys here since the 1970s when I worked in the Circuit Attorney’s Office.”
In addition to working in the litigation practices, Shaw will handle some in-house continuing legal education and deal with “diversity issues in-house and around the region.”
Shaw began his career on the bench in 1983 in St. Louis County Circuit Court as an associate circuit judge.
He was appointed to a circuit judge position in 1995, before being tabbed for the Court of Appeals in 2002.
He served as chief judge for a year starting in July 2006, the second African American to hold that leadership position.
A productive judge, Shaw wrote 142 opinions, including landmark cases involving Medicaid eligibility and “whistleblower” protection.
“We are proud to have such a distinguished jurist join our firm,” Thomas J. Minogue, Thompson Coburn chairman, told the American.
“Judge Shaw’s career has been truly impressive. He will be a tremendous asset to the firm and our clients. We’re very pleased that he’s chosen to move into a new phase of (his) career with Thompson Coburn.”
Ronnie White, a former Missouri Supreme Court chief justice, left the bench last summer to become a partner with Holloran, White and Schwartz. He conferred with Shaw before he made his move to private practice.
“Booker Shaw was a trailblazer in those courts,” White said.
“He was the first judge I practiced in front of, and he was fair to everyone who came before him.”
White said one thing that Shaw will discover is that “he knows more law now than he ever did.”
Shaw concurred, saying, “I can look at the forest as well as the trees. As a judge, you see so many cases that you get a very broad variety of issues to deal with.”
Shaw said he and his brother, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Shaw, “talked about the day we would go into private practice.”
“The plan was to be judges for a little while and then come back. We both loved it and time just flew by,” Booker Shaw said.
But the time for change did come, and now Shaw says the biggest difference in moving from bench to barrister is that “the client is the only one that really matters.”
He said, “That changes your thinking. As judge, you were more of a referee. That’s over.”
Shaw earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1973 from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale. He graduated from Catholic University of America with his Juris Doctor in 1976.
Before joining the Circuit Attorney’s Office, he worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and Columbus Community Legal Services, Washington, D.C.
He serves as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at Washington University, adding that he is honored to share his experience “with young attorneys and some seasoned ones.”
Active members of Second Presbyterian Church, Shaw and his wife Jane Berman Shaw have three sons.
