Meet the Criminal Defense Team at SMS Law Firm

Previous Experience as an Attorney

Before opening his office, Shawn partnered with a regional law firm and practiced in various areas for over ten years. He also worked as a solo practitioner in State College, PA, practicing criminal defense, family law, and estate planning. Shawn’s previous legal positions include independent legal counsel hired by Penn State to represent students charged with criminal charges and associate with a general practice firm in Carlisle.

Education and Honors

Shawn is a 2008 graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Political and Economic Philosophy. There, Shawn was the 2008 recipient of the Henry B. Sendaydiego Award In Philosophy, a member of the Phi Sigma Tau International Honor Society in Philosophy, and a member of Alpha Sigma Nu, The Honor Society of Jesuit Institutions of Higher Education. In 2008, Shawn was invited to present his work at the Seventh International Congress on the Future of Western Civilization in Lublin, Poland. He went on to receive his Juris Doctor in 2011 as a graduate of the Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle.

Life Outside the Law Firm

Shawn was born and raised in eastern Ohio and is a lifelong fan of the Steelers, Pirates, Penguins, and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Shawn is active in the Cumberland County Bar Association and was the 2016 Cumberland County Bar Association Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award recipient.

Shawn was named to the Super Lawyers Rising Star list for three years from 2020 through 2022, an honor conferred on not more than 2.5% of attorneys throughout Pennsylvania.

Education

• Pennsylvania State University, The Dickinson School of Law, Doctor of Law (J.D.), 2011
• Wheeling Jesuit University, 2008
  

Associations and Awards

• Cumberland County Bar Association, Member Pro Bono Section
• Cumberland County Bar Association, Pro Bono Award, 2016