Marilyn Tebor Shaw ’79
Marilyn Tebor Shaw ’79, associate judicial administrator of Cornell University, serves in the New York State Bar’s Attorney Emeriti Program in the field of estate planning for the elderly, and serves pro bono on Ithaca’s Board of Zoning Appeals. She has served as legal counsel for the Nomadic Kenyan Children’s Educational Fund.
About this Interview
Interview Date(s)
April 25, 2016
Interview Date(s)
Recipient of the Distinguished Alumna Award for Community Service at the 54th Annual Dinner
Interview Date(s)
Anne Joynt
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About Marilyn Tebor Shaw
Shaw was born in Rochester, N.Y., into a Jewish family. Her parents were both self-employed accountants. Her grandmother, who had escaped from Russia, lived with them. She attended the local public schools, where her volunteer work began in the seventh grade as a tutor. Volunteering was always a priority for her parents, who taught English to new immigrants, and Shaw followed their example. She graduated from Brighton High School after three years, then worked for a year to earn money for college.
Shaw attended Cornell University, then selected UB for law school. Her parents were delighted, and it was close to their Rochester home. UB’s warm and friendly environment felt like a special place, she said. She didn’t know it at the time, but the school had a deep commitment to social justice, which was a passion for Shaw. UB law school meshed with her experience at Cornell because they were both diverse places and the students were enthusiastic about their work. About 250 students were in the first-year class.
Shaw felt UB was a positive experience where she was prepared to complete the work assigned. She served on the Buffalo Law Review and found it stimulating. During her third year she left Buffalo for Georgetown University Law School in Washington, D.C. Her first job was with Leboeuf Lamb. Finding jobs after law school was never difficult for her.
Shaw was a partner at Bean, Kinney & Korman, PC, in Arlington, Va., in 1992, when she transitioned from private practice to the non-profit National Gallery of Art, in Washington. At the time, she had three children under age 5. Time with her family was more important than money, she decided. Initially offered a six-month consultant job at the gallery, she stayed and became associate general counsel until 2001.
She valued being independent and self-employed, which led her to open her own practice. In 2009, she became the principal of TeborShaw Law LLC. Her greatest professional achievement was saving a family from foreclosure and bankruptcy, which she did pro bono.
Her philosophy is that we’re all here to help each other. It is a privilege and honor to practice law and be in trust of the welfare of other people.
