Megan Kathleen Cavanagh (born 1970/1971) is an attorney who was elected in November 2018 to become an associate justice of the
Michigan Supreme Court
The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the state ...
with a term beginning in January 2019.
Biography
Cavanagh was born in
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...
, and educated in the public schools. She was raised in a family immersed in state politics with Michael Cavanagh, her father, serving as Chief Justice of the
Michigan Supreme Court
The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the state ...
from 1991 to 1995, and her uncle
Jerome Cavanagh
Jerome Patrick Cavanagh (June 16, 1928 – November 27, 1979) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 1962 to 1970. Initially seen as another John F. Kennedy, his reputation was doomed by the 1967 riots. He w ...
elected in the 1960s as
Mayor of Detroit
This is a list of mayors of Detroit, Michigan. See History of Detroit, Michigan, for more information about the history of the incorporation of the city.
The current mayor is Mike Duggan, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2014.
History o ...
.
She attended the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, graduating in 1993 with a Bachelor of Engineering degree, and earned her
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
Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School (Wayne Law) is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), ...
in 2000. After law school, she entered private practice and became a shareholder with Garan Lucow Miller P.C., where she specialized in appellate law. She served as a member of the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission.
In the November 6, 2018
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
Cavanagh won a seat when she received the second-most votes for the Supreme Court, receiving 25.2 percent of the vote, and unseating Kurtis T. Wilder who came in third. The Democratic Party endorsed her candidacy. She was the first person to join their parent as a member of the Michigan Supreme Court since 1857.
Personal life
Cavanagh lives in
Birmingham, Michigan
Birmingham is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit located along the Woodward Corridor ( M-1). As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,103.
History
The area comprising what is now the c ...