Mary A. McLaughlin (born 1946) is an inactive Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Education and career

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, McLaughlin 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 from

Gwynedd-Mercy College Gwynedd Mercy University (GMercyU) is a private Roman Catholic university in Lower Gwynedd Township, Pennsylvania. It occupies a campus in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Gwynedd Mercy University was founded in 1948, as Gwynedd-Mercy College, ...

in 1968, a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

in 1969, and 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 law ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...

in 1976. She was 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 Judge Stanley Seymour Brotman 1976 to 1977, and went on to work in private practice from 1977 to 1980. She was an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

of the United States Attorney's office for the District of Columbia from 1980 to 1984. She was an assistant professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Law from 1984 to 1986. After leaving Vanderbilt, McLaughlin returned to private practice for fourteen years, during which time she served as a partner at the law firm of

Dechert LLP Dechert LLP () is an American multinational law firm of more than 900 lawyers with practices in corporate and securities, complex litigation, finance and real estate, financial services, asset management, and private equity. In 2021, the fi ...

. She also completed stints as an adjunct professor at both the University of Pennsylvania and

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

law schools. In 1995, McLaughlin was appointed chief counsel to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government (a subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee).

Federal judicial service

McLaughlin was nominated by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

on March 9, 2000, for a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She was confirmed by the Senate on May 24, 2000, and received her commission on May 31, 2000. She simultaneously served a 2008 to 2015 term on the FISA Court. She took

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on November 18, 2013.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Mary A. 1946 births Living people Assistant United States Attorneys Bryn Mawr College alumni Gwynedd Mercy University alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Lawyers from Philadelphia United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Judges of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges