Megan McCarthy King (born December 8, 1969) is an American lawyer, professor, and jurist who currently serves as a judge of the

Superior Court of Pennsylvania The Superior Court of Pennsylvania is one of two Pennsylvania intermediate appellate courts (the other being the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania). It is based in Harrisburg. Jurisdiction The Superior Court hears appeals in criminal and mos ...

. A member of the Republican Party, King was elected to the Superior Court on November 5, 2019.

Early life and education

Megan McCarthy King was born in 1969, and she grew up in

Delaware County, Pennsylvania Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the List of counties in Pennsylv ...

. King graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

in 1992, earning her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

. She then got accepted into the

University of Pittsburgh School of Law The University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Pitt Law) is the law school of the University of Pittsburgh, a public research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and became a charter member of the Association of American ...

, where she received her J.D. degree in 1995.

Legal career

King began her career in 1995 in the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office, where she primarily prosecuted child abuse and elder abuse cases. King eventually became the Assistant District Attorney for Lancaster County. In 1999, King became a

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

for Justice Thomas Saylor of the

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Judiciary of Pennsylvania, Unified Judicial System. It began in 1684 as the Provincial Court, and casual references to it as ...

. She served as a law clerk until 2001. Not long after her tenure as a Law Clerk, King became a certified

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

teacher to better understand and serve the children in her cases. King later became the Deputy District Attorney for

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States ** Chester County Council, boy scout council in Pennsylvania. * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire ...

, where she served in the Child Abuse Unit. She served in this position until she was elected to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

2019 Superior Court Election

Megan won the Republican primary election for the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. With the election being held for 2 seats, the top two candidates in each party's primary proceeded to the general election. Megan then proceeded to the general election for the Pennsylvania Superior Court, where she received 25.41% (1,252,065) of votes, therefore winning alongside Daniel McCaffery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Megan McCarthy Superior court judges in the United States 1969 births Pennsylvania Republicans American women judges Vanderbilt University alumni University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni Living people