Shammara Haley Henderson (born 1982/1983) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a judge on the

New Mexico Court of Appeals The New Mexico Court of Appeals (in case citation, N.M. Ct. App.) is the intermediate-level appellate court for the state of New Mexico. History The court of appeals was created by a constitutional amendment submitted to the electorate in a ...

. She assumed office on March 1, 2020, the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

to serve on the court.

Early life and education

Henderson was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she graduated from Valley High School. She earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

and philosophy from American University in 2004, where she received the Frederick Douglass Scholarship and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from the

University of New Mexico School of Law The University of New Mexico School of Law (UNM Law or New Mexico Law) is the law school of the University of New Mexico, a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1947, it is the first and only law school in the state. ...

in 2007.

Career

In 2007 and 2008, Henderson served as a clerk for New Mexico Supreme Court Justice

Charles W. Daniels Charles W. Daniels (January 14, 1943 – September 1, 2019) was a justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court from 2007 to 2018. He was first recommended by the New Mexico Judicial Nominating Commission and appointed by Governor Bill Richardson in Oct ...

. She also served as an assistant district attorney and associate counsel to Governor

Bill Richardson William Blaine Richardson III (born November 15, 1947) is an American politician, author, and diplomat who served as the 30th governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. He was also the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Energy Secretary ...

. Henderson joined the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico in 2011, serving as an

assistant United States attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal go ...

until 2017. Henderson co-founded her own law firm Henderson & Grohman, PC, in 2017 which joined Freedman, Boyd, Hollander, Goldberg, Urias, & Ward, PA in October of 2018. Since 2019, she has also worked as an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law. In February 2020, Henderson was appointed to the

by Governor

Michelle Lujan Grisham Michelle Lynn Lujan Grisham (; born October 24, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 32nd governor of New Mexico since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, Lujan Grisham previously served as the U.S. representative for ...

, becoming the first

to sit on the court.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Shammara Living people New Mexico lawyers People from Albuquerque, New Mexico American University alumni University of New Mexico School of Law alumni University of New Mexico faculty Assistant United States Attorneys New Mexico Democrats Year of birth missing (living people)