McGhee’s career of service stretches from police to bar

Law Talk profile for The Memphis Daily News

Dec. 6, 2012

Charles McGhee of Shea Moskovitz & McGhee PLC grew up in a family dedicated to service.

Born in Japan to a U.S. Marine father and Japanese mother, McGhee moved with his parents to San Diego when he was not quite a year old. Upon his father’s duty coming to an end, they moved to Memphis to be near family.

McGhee’s father took a job with the Memphis Fire Department where he worked until retirement and the call to civil service was a strong one for his son. The graduate of Westside High School entered the University of Memphis to study criminal justice and sociology and, in his third year as an undergraduate, joined the Memphis Police Department.

“I enjoyed my time there,” he says of his five-and-a-half year stint for the department.

He ultimately returned to the university part time after his first year on the force to complete his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

“I had the desire to be a lawyer when I was in undergraduate school, but I was unable financially to directly matriculate from undergraduate to law school,” he said … (read more)