The Hon. Robert B. Kershaw is an associate judge for the Baltimore City Circuit Court in Maryland. He was appointed to the bench by former Governor Robert Ehrlich on February 6, 2006.
Over the course of his judicial career, Kershaw has held assignments as the Judge-in-Charge of the Baltimore City Juvenile Division (2011 to 2018) and Presiding Judge of the Family Recovery Court (2012 to present). He also sat on the Commission on Judicial Disabilities, the Foster Care Court-Improvement Implementation Committee as well as the Juvenile Law Committee and the Joint Work Group on Human Trafficking of the Maryland Judicial Council.
Kershaw earned a bachelor’s degree in American history from Princeton University in 1974. He then completed a J.D. at the University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law in 1977.
He is admitted to practice in Maryland (1977); New York (1983); the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (1978), the Southern District of New York (1983), and the Eastern District of New York (1983); the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (1986); and the United States Supreme Court (1989).
After graduating from law school, Kershaw entered into private practice. He started as an associate at Ober, Grimes & Shriver. He worked in that capacity until 1984, at which time he became a partner at Quinn, Ward & Kershaw. Then, in 1995, Kershaw formed Ward, Kershaw & Minton (renamed Ward Kershaw), where he worked as a partner until his appointment to the bench.
His memberships have included the Baltimore City Bar Association and the Maryland State Bar Association. He has also been involved with the Equal Justice Council of the Legal Aid Bureau and the Board of Directors of the Baltimore Courthouse & Law Museum Foundation, the Baltimore City Historical Society, the Maryland Humanities Council, and the Maryland Legal Services Corporation.
He is a recipient of the Champion of Justice Award from the Legal Aid Bureau (2003) and the George T. Harrison Volunteer Award from Preservation Maryland (1990).
Kershaw was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended McDonogh School in Owings Mills.