Marilyn Skoglund (born August 15, 1946) is a former Associate Justice of the

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The Court ...

. She is well known for having attained admission to the bar and appointment to the bench despite not having gone to law school.

Life and career

Marilyn Ruth Signe Skoglund was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on August 15, 1946, and was raised in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. She received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

s from

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

in 1971, and settled in

Plainfield, Vermont Plainfield, a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States was incorporated in 1867. The population was 1,236 at the 2020 census. Plainfield is the location of Goddard College. Geography Plainfield is located at . According to the United ...

in 1973 when her then-husband accepted a teaching position at

Goddard College Goddard College is a progressive education private liberal arts low-residency college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle, Washington. The college offers undergraduate and gra ...

. She was divorced shortly afterwards. Skoglund attended the

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...

program at Montpelier's

Woodbury College Woodbury College was an institute of higher learning in Montpelier, Vermont, USA. It was established in 1975. In August 2008, it merged with Champlain College, where its 125 students were transferred. The campus was purchased by the Community Co ...

. She studied law under the supervision of Louis P. Peck while working in the

Vermont Attorney General The Vermont Attorney General is a statewide elected executive official in the U.S. state of Vermont who is elected every two years. It was created by an act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1790, repealed in 1797, and revived in 1904. The office ...

's office, a practice still permitted in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, and became an attorney in 1978. After receiving her law license Skoglund continued her career in the Vermont Attorney General's office. Her assignments included: Special Assistant Attorney General (1978-1981); Assistant Attorney General (1981-1989); Chief of the Civil Law Division (1989-1993); and Chief of the Public Protection Division (1993-1994). In 1994 Skoglund was appointed to the Vermont District Court. She served until 1997, when she was appointed to the Vermont Supreme Court to succeed the retiring Ernest W. Gibson III. Skoglund was continued in office by the state Judicial Retention Committee in 2005, 2011, and 2017. In May 2019, Skoglund informed Governor

Phil Scott Philip Brian Scott (born August 4, 1958) is an American politician, businessman and stock car racer who has served as the 82nd governor of Vermont since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected governor in the 2016 general electi ...

of her intention to retire effective September 1, 2019. She was succeeded by William D. Cohen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skoglund, Marilyn 1946 births Living people Lawyers from Chicago People from Montpelier, Vermont Lawyers from St. Louis Southern Illinois University alumni Vermont lawyers Vermont state court judges Justices of the Vermont Supreme Court U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges