Yesterday afternoon, Chief Judge Kenneth M. Switzer administered the judicial oath to Judge Shaterra Reed Marion, who will sit in the Memphis office of the Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims. Her husband, Gerard Marion, held the Bible.

Judge Marion’s father, Terrence Reed, helped her don the robe for the very first time.

Judge Marion gave brief remarks afterward, in which she thanked her family for teaching her the value of hard work. She acknowledged “standing on the shoulders of others,” and said that she takes inspiration from a credo she learned at her alma mater, Howard University School of Law: “A lawyer is either a social engineer or a parasite on society.” A “social engineer is a highly skilled, perceptive, sensitive lawyer, who understands the Constitution of the United States and knows how to explore its uses in solving problems.”

Judge Marion’s very first settlement approvals took place earlier today.