ESU Alumna Christine L. Donohue Elected to Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Posted by: admin on November 10, 2015, No Comments

Christine DonohueChristine Donohue (D), a 1974 political science graduate of East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, was elected to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, November 3. She is the first graduate of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education elected to serve on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the oldest continually sitting appellate court in North America.

Judge Donohue held a position as a judge on the Pennsylvania Superior Court since she began serving her term in January 2008. She is a former member of both the Judicial Conduct Board and the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. She is the former chair of the Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners and a former judge of the Court of Judicial Discipline.

Born in Coaldale, Pa., Donohue was raised in Lansford, Pa. and was a graduate of Marian Catholic High School. She earned her undergraduate degree from ESU in 1974 and a juris doctorate from the Duquesne University School of Law in 1980 and later taught ethics for attorneys at Duquesne’s Law School. Donohue is an elected member of the Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County and the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Donohue has served as a member of the board of directors for the Hill House Association, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Western Pennsylvania, Turtle Creek Valley Mental Health/Mental Retardation, Inc. and was a former board member for the National Aviary of Pittsburgh.

Currently, she serves as a member of the Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania, the American, Pennsylvania and Allegheny County Bar Associations (chair of the Young Lawyer’s Division). Donohue is a charter member of the Allegheny County Bar Foundation and served as a member of the House of Delegates of the Pennsylvania Bar Association from 1986-2007. She has been twice recognized, most recently in 2008, in Pennsylvania Law Weekly as one of the States Women Leaders in the Legal Profession. Donohue is also a recipient of the Celebrate and Share Women of Achievement Award.  With civil trial and appellate court experience, she was listed in Best Lawyers in America.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court consists of seven (7) justices, each elected to a 10-year term of office. For more information about Judge Donohue, visit www.pacourts.us.