70 years after passing bar exam, Judge McGhee says it's 'a continual learning process'

It has been 70 years since Paul McGhee took his bar exam and began practicing law in Stoddard County.

At age 93, McGhee is the most senior judge who still regularly presides over cases in the Missouri state court’s system.

Since taking senior judge status in January 1995, McGhee may no longer be as active as he once was, but he still drives himself to Poplar Bluff twice a month to hear cases.

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“I’m not doing very much” any more, said McGhee.

At some point, he said, he will retire.

“I have not selected a date yet, but it’s approaching,” said the soft-spoken Dexter man.

When McGhee took his bar exam 70 years ago, “I didn’t look that far ahead” to where he would be today.

“I could have retired at any point,” McGhee said. “I like to do something useful. That’s my principle reason.”

1990Photo provided

Some judges, he said, go back into private practice when they leave the bench, “but I didn’t want to do that.

“Some like to travel, but I was in the Navy in World War II and the Korean War and did a lot of traveling then, so I didn’t want to do any more of that.”

Serving the last 24 years as senior judge has been about “having something useful to do,” said McGhee.

High school

“I have written down the number of hours that I’ve worked as a senior judge; according to my count, 19,280 hours,” said McGhee. “Several of the early years, I would work 14 to 1,500 hours.”

A 1949 graduate of the University of Missouri Law School at Columbia, McGhee began his law career when he opened a private practice in Dexter.

“Then, the Korean War started,” McGhee explained. “I was in the Navy Reserves; I was recalled to active duty in February 1951.”

After McGhee’s release from active duty in February 1953, he said, he went to work for the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.

1972

“I stayed there until 1957 when I became the judge of probate court in Stoddard County,” McGhee said. “I stayed in that until 1960, 1961 when I became the prosecuting attorney of Stoddard County.

“I did that because I wanted to return to (private) practice.”

McGhee maintained a private civil practice while serving two, six-year terms at prosecutor. He also served 12 years, eight months as the city attorney for the City of Dexter.

“Then, in January 1979, I became associate circuit judge of Stoddard County,” a position he held for 16 years, McGhee said. “Then, I became senior judge Jan. 1, 1995, and it’s where I am” now.

As senior judge, McGhee has heard cases in Butler County for 23 years. Butler is the last remaining county where McGhee now holds court.

“As a judge, I’ve had court in 23 counties on the east side of the state, down to the Arkansas line, up to and including St. Louis,” McGhee explained. “The furthest west I’ve been is Greene County, which is Springfield.”

During his career, McGhee said, there have been “so many changes,” including in the law.

“We have, of course, a Legislature to enact the laws,” he said. “We have a Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court, who modify, clarify (the laws), so it’s a continuing process.

“The practice of law, being a judge is a continual learning process.”

McGhee said he remembers when the use of copy machines first began and described it as an advancement.

“Then, we had IBM typewriters we could store things on,” McGhee said.

Next, he said, came fax machines followed by computers and cellphones.

There have been a lot of changes, particularly in the last 10 to 20 years, McGhee said.

“One of the changes is the use of books as lawyers or judges,” McGhee said. “Now, it’s mostly computers.”

McGhee said he still prefers to look at a book more than looking at a screen.

According to McGhee, being a lawyer is a stressful occupation.

“It can be a stressful life; you can have stress in everything, I suppose,” said McGhee.

With a law career now spanning into its seventh decade, it may be possible to trace McGhee’s longevity back to his family roots.

“I have an older brother who died at 103,” McGhee said. “My father reached 96. My mother died at age 91. I have a sister alive at 96.”

McGhee’s “little brother” lived to the age of 90.

“I get up every morning and do what I have to do, go to bed at night, get up the next morning and do it again,” McGhee said. “In retrospect, 93 years have passed pretty quickly.”

A typical day, he said, includes his household chores, as well as a trip to the post office.

“Then, I have other chores to do,” he added.

The old adage that “clean living helps” seems to also hold true for McGhee. “I think you do the best you can.”

McGhee is the father of three children — two sons and a daughter.

“I drove myself to St. Louis over Christmas to visit my oldest son, no problem,” said McGhee, who indicated he has a granddaughter in law school at his alma mater.

When asked what advice he could give his granddaughter as she prepares to embark on her own legal career, McGhee said, “she does quite well without advice from me.

“She’s a third-year law student. She’ll graduate in June. She has employment already at what seems to be a good salary.”