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About

Rae Shearn was a professional dancer before she became a lawyer. She danced for 20 years, earning her a place in the Royal Ballet of the United Kingdom. During this time, Rae Shearn danced for Martha Graham, one of the most respected artistic directors and choreographers and known as the "Mother of Modern Dance." She also worked with Donald McKayle, who is famous for making the Sophisticated Ladies' dance moves. She did her last dance before joining the Miami Fusion Dance Company at the First Miami New World Festival of Dance.

Rae Shearn worked for a Southern District Magistrate before she joined Janet Reno at the Miami Dade State Attorney's Office. During the Miami Riots, the Court Broom Sweep, and the Miami River Cops case, she also served as a prosecutor. She worked under Janet Reno in the Specialty Division's narcotics section from the middle until the end of the 1980s. This happened three years before the Miami Dade State Attorney at the time gave her the job of division chief. During this time, she felt like she had to start defending the person who was being accused.


Since she opened her own law firm, Rae Shearn has been known as a Client Champion. As a lawyer in private practice, she has mostly worked on criminal defence, and since 1997, the death penalty has been her main focus. Rae Shearn was recognized as one of the best 100 trial attorneys in the nation in 2021 and 2022. 

Since 1997, Rae Shearn has been a lawyer for the National Criminal Justice Student Academic Honor Society, Alpha Phi Sigma. She is also on the board of the Miami Florida Criminal Defense Attorneys, which she joined in 2019. She has been a member of the FACDL since the beginning of her career.

Rae Shearn is also a part of the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. She has been a lecturer at the Bring Your Own Case Seminars since 1999. She joined the League of Prosecutors, which she helped to start, in 2002. Shearn won the Broward County Pro Bono Service Award for Women in Distress and the Florida CPA Today Editorial Committee Award for Writing Excellence for CPA-Client Confidentiality.

Rae Shearn became an attorney with the AFL-CIO, FLARA Labor Union Office in 2003. She worked for the AFL-CIO and FLARA Labor Union Office during the illegal G8 WTO arrests of union members who used their right to free speech. She was the only criminal defence lawyer who could go up against the G8 police Action Plan, which cost $8.5 million and was paid for by the federal government's anti-terrorism funds. She was one of the first people to help defend hundreds of protesters near the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami, Florida, who were facing illegal charges for using their right to free speech. Even though a lot of people were arrested, none of them was found guilty.

Rae Shearn has been a big part of changing Florida's death laws. In the 1990s, a fight between police departments meant that only one private defence attorney was given to people who could be put to death.

Since a long time ago, Rae Shearn has been a lawyer. Shearn has won many important awards, like being named a Client Champion in 2005 and one of the Top 100 National Trial Attorneys in 2021 and 2022. Rae Shearn won the Broward County Pro Bono Service Award for Women in Need and the Florida CPA Today Editorial Committee Award for Writing Excellence for CPA-Client Confidentiality.

Nova Southeastern Law School's Arthur Goldberg Award for her work to promote the Sixth Amendment's right to a lawyer. She was also picked to join the Miami Florida Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, which has been helping the community since 2019. Shearn has also been on the Florida Association of Women Lawyers' Executive Board, where she was in charge of publicity.

Rae Shearn has been a lawyer for people in trouble with the law for a long time. She worked for Janet Reno on the Specialty Narcotics team and was put on the Prosecutorial Joint Task Force in the Southern District. After three years as a prosecutor, Janet Reno gave her the job of Chief in felonies.

Rae Shearn has also worked for a long time with the Innocence Project of Florida, an organization that helps people who were wrongfully convicted. Through Legal Aid and Broward County, Rae Shearn also helps people who have been hurt by domestic violence for free.

Rae Shearn got the Broward County Women's Distress Award for all the good work she did for charity. The award goes to people who have helped out with the Pro Bono service. She still works for Put Something Back for free in some cases. This project's goal is to help people who can't pay for a lawyer. Rae Shearn has also changed the laws in Florida about death.

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