Jim Rosica
Former state Rep. Sean Shaw, who came up short in last year’s race for Attorney General, has joined Tampa’s Vanguard Attorneys, which bills itself as “a boutique personal injury law firm.”
There, Shaw will work with former state Sen. Arthenia Joyner, who last served as the chamber’s Democratic Leader. She was term-limited out of the Senate in 2016.
Shaw, previously with Tampa’s Merlin Law Group, was the first African-American nominee in Florida’s history for Attorney General, the state’s chief legal officer.
Tampa Republican Ashley Moody, a former circuit judge and prosecutor, came out ahead in November’s statewide race to be Florida’s chief legal officer, defeating Shaw, also of Tampa.
Before that, Shaw sued and won in having his only primary opponent — Ryan Torrens — knocked off the ballot, the first time that had happened. An appellate court suspended the effect of that ruling pending review, but Shaw beat Torrens on Primary Election Day anyway.
He grew up in Tallahassee, son of the late Leander J. Shaw Jr., the first African-American chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court.
Shaw graduated from Princeton University and received his law degree from the University of Florida in 2003. He became Insurance Consumer Advocate under then-CFO Alex Sink in 2008-10.
Shaw later served one term in the House, 2016-18. He was succeeded by Democrat Dianne Hart, who now represents District 61.
He also now hosts a weekly radio show, “Vanguards of Democracy,” on WTMP in Tampa/St. Petersburg.
