Sean Joseph McLaughlin (born January 4, 1955) is a former
United States district judge
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...
of the
.
Education and career
Born in
Erie
Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, McLaughlin received an
Artium Baccalaureus degree from
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
in 1977, followed by a
Juris Doctor
A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from the
Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...
in 1980. He served as 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 three different judges on the
—
William W. Knox, in 1980;
Gerald Joseph Weber, from 1980 to 1981; and
Maurice Blanchard Cohill, in 1981. McLaughlin then entered private practice at the law firm Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett, P.C. until 1994.
Federal judicial service
McLaughlin was nominated by President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
on August 12, 1994, to a seat on the same court where he had clerked, which had been vacated by
Glenn E. Mencer. McLaughlin was confirmed by the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
on October 7, 1994, received his commission on October 11, 1994 and sworn in on October 13, 1994.
Among the more notable cases presided over by McLaughlin was the criminal conviction of the conspirators in the murder of
Brian Douglas Wells, a highly publicized case involving a bizarre and complex bank robbery scheme. He became Chief Judge on April 25, 2013, upon the sudden death of former Chief Judge
Gary L. Lancaster.
McLaughlin resigned in 2013 after being hired as General Counsel and Vice President of the
Erie Insurance Group, with his final day on the bench being August 16, 2013. In January 2019, he returned to a different position at Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett.
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Sean J.
1955 births
Living people
Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton
People from Erie, Pennsylvania
Georgetown University alumni
20th-century American judges
21st-century American judges