Shea Watson

Shea is an attorney and 2019 alumna of Maine Law. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Southern Maine, where she spent a year as a casework intern in the office of U.S. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, interned as a field organizer for EqualityMaine, and served as an after school tutor at a local neighborhood center.

After college, Shea worked as a constituent caseworker for U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy in Connecticut, where she regularly worked with the Department of Education and other government agencies on behalf of constituents, until returning to her home state of Maine to attend the University of Maine School of Law.

Wishing to take advantage of the many opportunities available to Maine Law’s students, Shea was a Teaching Fellow for first year students in the Academic Success Program, a Board Member of the Women’s Law Association, a student representative to the Edward Thaxter Gignoux Inn of Court, a class representative to the Student Bar Association, an editor for the Oceans & Coastal Law Journal, and a member of both the Employment Law and Admiralty Law Moot Court teams. She externed for U.S. Magistrate Judge John Rich III (Retired) in the District of Maine, interned for the in-house legal and compliance team at IDEXX, interned as a public defender in the Manhattan Criminal Defense Practice of the Legal Aid Society, and worked for multiple small law firms during her time at Maine Law.

Following graduation, Shea clerked for Associate Justice Joseph M. Jabar of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and worked as an attorney at two Portland law firms, Kelly, Remmel & Zimmerman and Pierce Atwood, before returning to Maine Law full time. She has been a Bar Coach in Maine Law’s Bar Readiness Program since its inception and has helped dozens of students prepare for the bar exam over the years. Deeply committed to mentorship in the local legal community, Shea served as the mentorship coordinator and liaison between the Women’s Law Section of the Maine State Bar Association and the law school’s Women’s Law Section while in private practice.

A self-proclaimed unofficial ambassador to Portland, Shea enjoys all the wonderful things Portland has to offer and frequents many local bakeries, coffee shops, and restaurants. When she is not working with students or taste-testing local delicacies, Shea can be found working on DIY projects, participating in the Maine Cancer Foundation’s annual Tri-For-A-Cure, or doing anything in, on, or around the water.