Jill McKee Pohlman is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

from

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

who serves as the as a justice of the

Utah Supreme Court The Utah Supreme Court is the supreme court of the state of Utah, United States. It has final authority of interpretation of the Utah Constitution. The Utah Supreme Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, an associate chief justice, ...

. From 2016 to 2022, she was an associate presiding judge of the

Utah Court of Appeals The Utah Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the state of Utah. It began operations in 1987. Jurisdiction The court's jurisdiction is complementary to that of the Utah Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals hears all app ...

Education

Pohlman was born in

Ogden, Utah Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...

and attended Alta High School She received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of D ...

. She received a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from the S.J. Quinney College of Law,. where she graduated

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap ...

and was a member of the ''Utah Law Review''.

Legal career

Pohlman served as a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for Chief Judge

David Kent Winder David Kent Winder (June 8, 1932 – May 19, 2009) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Education and career Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to a locally prominent family, whose main b ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Utah The United States District Court for the District of Utah (in case citations, D. Utah) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Utah. The court is based in Salt Lake City with another courtroom leased in thstate courtho ...

and the U.S. Attorney's office. She was a partner at the law firm of Stoel Rives in both their litigation and appellate practice groups. One of her high profile cases included the ethics investigation of the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soó ...

Judicial career

Utah Court of Appeals

In 2016, Pohlman was appointed as a judge of the

by Utah Governor

Gary Herbert Gary Richard Herbert (born May 7, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 17th Governor of Utah from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the National Governors Association during the 2015–2016 cycle. Herbert wo ...

. She filled the seat left by the retirement of judge James Davis. She assumed office in May 2016. In August 2017, she became part of a female majority on the court of appeals.

Utah Supreme Court

On May 20, 2022, Pohlman was one of seven candidates recommended by the appellate judicial nominating commission. On June 28, 2022, Governor Spencer Cox announced the appointment of Pohlman to serve as a justice of the Utah Supreme Court to fill the vacancy of Thomas R. Lee who retired on July 31, 2022. On July 26, 2022, her nomination was

unanimous Unanimity is agreement by all people in a given situation. Groups may consider unanimous decisions as a sign of social, political or procedural agreement, solidarity, and unity. Unanimity may be assumed explicitly after a unanimous vote or implic ...

ly advanced out of the Utah Senate Judicial Confirmation Committee. On August 17, 2022, her nomination was

unanimously Unanimity is agreement by all people in a given situation. Groups may consider unanimous decisions as a sign of social, political or procedural agreement, solidarity, and unity. Unanimity may be assumed explicitly after a unanimous vote or imp ...

confirmed by the

Utah Senate The Utah State Senate is the upper house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The Utah Senate is composed of 29 elected members representing an equal number of senate districts. Each senate district is ...

. With her confirmation, Pohlman brings the Utah Supreme Court to a female majority. She had a formal investiture on January 27, 2023.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pohlman, Jill M. Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Justices of the Utah Supreme Court People from Ogden, Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law alumni Utah Court of Appeals judges Utah lawyers University of Utah alumni