Shea received both his undergraduate and J.D. degrees from the University of Montana in 1988 and 1991, respectively. He began his legal career as a clerk for Chief Judge Paul Hatfield of the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. He then practiced law in Oregon for four years. There he served as a trial lawyer with the Metropolitan Public Defender in Portland and then practiced law with the firm of Bricker, Zakovics & Querin. In 1996, Shea moved back to Montana. Prior to his first judicial appointment, he was a partner at the law firm of Paoli & Shea in Missoula, Montana. He was appointed to the Workers' Compensation Court by Governor Brian Schweitzer and was sworn in to that position on September 7, 2005. In 2014, he was appointed to the Montana Supreme Court.
