Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing

Judge McLaughlin is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1988. Judge McLaughlin graduated from Delaware Law School of Widener University in 1992. During her last year of law school, Judge McLaughlin clerked for then President Judge Vincent Cirillo of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Following graduation from law school, Judge McLaughlin worked as an Assistant Attorney in Philadelphia. Judge McLaughlin was appointed one of the youngest female Chiefs in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office where she worked for 19 years until 2011.

In 2011, Judge McLaughlin was elected to a ten year term on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas where she presided over both family law and criminal law matters. During her years as both a prosecutor and while on the bench, Judge McLaughlin appeared often as an instructor for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Philadelphia Bar Association, The Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Community Service, the Delaware County Bar Association and the Trial Lawyers Association. Judge McLaughlin has been a guest on numerous radio and television shows speaking on a variety of family law issues. Judge McLaughlin has been honored by numerous organizations including The Sons and Daughters of Italy and the Delaware Law School Alumni Association.

On the Court of Common Pleas, Judge McLaughlin took an active role in judicial education. She was the Vice-President of the Cipriani Family Law Inn of Court and co-chaired the FYI Judicial Education Committee for the First Judicial District. Judge McLaughlin is a member of the National Association of Women Judges, the Justinian Law Society, Brehon Law Society, the Sons and Daughters of Italy in Roxborough, a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Philadelphia Bar Association. Judge McLaughlin sits on the Alumni Board of Delaware Law School of Widener University.

Judge McLaughlin is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She was admitted to the US District Court for the Eastern District of PA, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

Judge McLaughlin was elected to the Superior Court in November 2017. Her chambers are in Philadelphia.