James Jeremiah Shea (born April 13, 1966) is an associate justice of the

Montana Supreme Court The Montana Supreme Court is the supreme court, highest court of the state court system in the U.S. state of Montana. It is established and its powers defined by Article VII of the 1972 Montana Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court wh ...

, appointed by Governor

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. He previously served as a judge on the Montana Workers' Compensation Court from 2005 to 2014.

Education and career

Shea graduated from the University of Montana School of Law in 1991 and started out as a law clerk for Chief Judge

Paul G. Hatfield Paul Gerhart Hatfield (April 29, 1928 – July 3, 2000) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist. He served briefly as United States Senator from Montana in 1978, and then as a United States district judge of the United States District ...

of the United States District Court for the District of Montana. Shea then worked as a trial attorney with the Metropolitan Public Defender in Portland, Oregon, before returning to Montana to practice mostly civil law.

State court service

Shea was appointed by Gov. Brian Schweitzer to the Workers' Compensation Court in 2005 and was sworn into that position on September 7, 2005. He was reappointed to a second term in 2011. Prior to his appointment to the bench, he was in private practice, most recently as a partner at the Missoula law firm of Paoli & Shea.

Appointment to Montana Supreme Court

Governor

appointed Shea to serve on the

. Shea replaced Judge Brian Morris, who was confirmed and commissioned as a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

for the

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in December 2013. Shea's appointment was confirmed by the

Montana State Senate The Montana Senate is the upper house of the Montana Legislature, the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The body is composed of 50 senators elected for four years. Composition of the Senate :''67th Legislature – 2021–202 ...

by a vote of 41-9. He was sworn in on June 2, 2014. Shea ran unopposed in the 2016 election and was retained with 81.5 percent of the vote.

Personal life

Shea was born and raised in Butte, Montana. He graduated from Butte Central Catholic High School. He and his wife Kathy met in college and married in 1989.Judge Jim Shea for Montana Supreme Court
/ref> They have two daughters, Kate and Moira.

References

External links

Official Supreme Court bio
*
Campaign Website: Shea for Justice
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shea, Jim 1966 births Living people Montana lawyers Justices of the Montana Supreme Court Politicians from Butte, Montana University of Montana alumni 21st-century American judges