Sam Sheldon’s dream of becoming a lawyer was born at age 12 when he watched “The Verdict,” a legal drama starring Paul Newman as an attorney representing the family of a comatose woman in a medical malpractice suit against a hospital.

“He saves the day at the end. I saw that movie as a kid and I’m like, ‘That’s what I want to be: a trial lawyer,’” said Sheldon, who served as a U.S. magistrate judge in southern Texas  from 2019 to 2023.