Sean J. McLaughlin (born January 4, 1955) is a former

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, W.D. Pa.) is a federal trial court that sits in Pittsburgh, Erie, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It is composed of ten judges as authorized by federal ...

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. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

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 an

Artium Baccalaureus 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

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in 1977, followed by 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

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

in 1980. He served as 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 three different judges on the

— William W. Knox, in 1980;

Gerald Joseph Weber Gerald Joseph Weber (February 1, 1914 – August 28, 1989) was a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Education and career Born in Erie, Pennsyl ...

, 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 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 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 the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

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 On August 28, 2003, pizza delivery man Brian Douglas Wells robbed a PNC Bank near his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania. After being apprehended by police, Wells was murdered when an explosive collar locked to his neck detonated. A Federal Bureau o ...

, 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 Gary L. Lancaster (August 14, 1949 – April 24, 2013) was a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Early years Born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, B ...

. McLaughlin resigned in 2013 after being hired as General Counsel and Vice President of the

Erie Insurance Group Erie Insurance, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, is a property and casualty insurance company offering auto insurance, auto, homeowners insurance, home, Business insurance, business and life insurance through a network of independent insurance agents. ...

, 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