About Jackie
Judge Jacqueline (Jackie) O. Shogan is currently a member of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. In addition to her judicial duties, Judge Shogan teaches appellate practice at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She is a long-time resident of Pennsylvania with over 30 years of legal and health care experience. She lives with her husband, Jeff, and their three children in Murrysville, which is just outside of Pittsburgh. Judge Shogan’s mother and her husband’s father also live with them.
A graduate of Gateway High School in Monroeville, Judge Shogan went on to Temple University to receive a B.S. in Nursing, summa cum laude, in 1975. She subsequently obtained an M.S. in Nursing from the University of Virginia. Judge Shogan practiced for 12 years as a staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist, and nursing instructor.
Judge Shogan had a longstanding interest in public policy and the legal system. She returned to school in the 1980’s to obtain a J.D., with high honors, from Duke University School of Law in North Carolina. While at Duke, Judge Shogan was elected to the Order of the Coif and received the Bidlake Legal Research and Writing Award, the American Jurisprudence Award for Achievement in Federal Appellate Practice, and the Most Effective Advocate Award by the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers.
Upon graduation from law school, she practiced for eight years in the areas of civil litigation, health law, and administrative law. Because she hoped to eventually pursue a judicial career, she then spent four years as an attorney on the staff of Judge Maurice B. Cohill, Jr., of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Judge Shogan returned to private practice in 2001 as a member of the complex civil litigation group at Thorp, Reed & Armstrong, LLP. She also served as an arbitrator and mediator prior to being elected to the Superior Court.
Judge Shogan has been involved in her community for many years and has received a number of awards. For the past six years, she has served as a member and officer of the Board of Directors of Neighborhood Legal Services. She is a past member and officer of the Board of Directors of Easter Seals Western Pennsylvania and of the Board of Trustees of St. Edmund’s Academy in Pittsburgh. Judge Shogan is active in many bar associations and has held leadership positions in these organizations. Judge Shogan is also a fellow of the Pennsylvania and Allegheny County Bar Foundations, and she served on Attorney General Tom Corbett’s Transition Team. Judge Shogan is a member of South Avenue United Methodist Church in Wilkinsburg.
Jackie is a committed reformer who will uphold openess and transparency on the Supreme Court. For more information on her views regarding the Pennsylvania judiciary, see her previous the Democracy Rising Pennsylvania questionnaire (pdf). She kept her pledge to return the net amount of the controversial pay raise and is returning the 2009 COLA.