Sean J. McLaughlin
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1994 and confirmed by voice vote, Sean J. McLaughlin was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He earned a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1980. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1955 · age 71
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1994
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Georgetown 1977 · Georgetown Law Center 1980
- Succeeded
- Glenn Everell Mencer
- Succeeded by
- Susan Paradise Baxter
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Western District of Pennsylvania succeeded Glenn Everell Mencer | Clinton (D) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
| Georgetown University | A.B. | 1977 |
| Georgetown University Law Center | J.D. | 1980 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, McLaughlin was assigned 4,639 district-court cases (1990–2013). Median time from filing to termination: 285 days across 4,591 closed cases.
Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.
On appeal
Of 286 of McLaughlin’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 241 were affirmed, 31 reversed or vacated, and 14 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.
In our data, McLaughlin authored 113 published opinions for the court (1994–2011). Most cited: Zippo Manufacturing Co. v. Zippo Dot Com, Inc. (780 citations).
A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Recent & notable rulings
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Zippo Manufacturing Co. v. Zippo Dot Com, Inc. | 952 F. Supp. 1119 | 780 |
| 2006 | Tice v. Wilson | 425 F. Supp. 2d 676 | 152 |
| 2010 | Rogers v. United States | 696 F. Supp. 2d 472 | 41 |
| 1997 | Lazy Oil, Co. v. Witco Corp. | 95 F. Supp. 2d 290 | 34 |
| 2002 | In Re Rent-Way Securities Litigation | 209 F. Supp. 2d 493 | 28 |
| 2005 | Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of National Forge Co. v. Clark (In Re National Forge Co.) | 326 B.R. 532 | 25 |
| 2006 | Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of National Forge Co. v. Clark (In Re National Forge Co.) | 344 B.R. 340 | 21 |
| 1995 | Saint Vincent Health Center v. Shalala | 937 F. Supp. 496 | 20 |
| 2009 | United States v. Marzzarella | 595 F. Supp. 2d 596 | 18 |
| 2007 | Cadle Co. v. Zofko | 380 B.R. 375 | 18 |
| 2010 | Rees v. Office of Children and Youth | 744 F. Supp. 2d 434 | 16 |
| 2003 | In Re Rent-Way Securities Litigation | 305 F. Supp. 2d 491 | 14 |
| 2002 | Erie County Retirees Ass'n v. County of Erie, Pa. | 192 F. Supp. 2d 369 | 13 |
| 2009 | United States v. Wecht | 619 F. Supp. 2d 213 | 12 |
| 2000 | Pellegrino Food Products Co. v. City of Warren | 136 F. Supp. 2d 391 | 12 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 113 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed Sean J. McLaughlin?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Sean J. McLaughlin to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in 1994.
- Was Sean J. McLaughlin appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Sean J. McLaughlin was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Sean J. McLaughlin's confirmation vote?
- Sean J. McLaughlin was confirmed by voice vote on October 7, 1994. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Sean J. McLaughlin on?
- Sean J. McLaughlin was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
18 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).