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\nMeet Justice LaGrua
\n\n Governor Brian Kemp appointed Justice Shawn Ellen LaGrua to the\n Georgia Supreme Court in December 2020, and she was sworn in by\n Governor Kemp on January 7, 2021.\n
\n\n Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Justice LaGrua was appointed to\n the Superior Court of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit by then-Governor\n Sonny Perdue and was sworn in on June 29, 2010. She served on the\n bench in the Superior Court of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit until\n January 2021, having been elected in 2012 and reelected in 2016 and\n 2020. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she served as Inspector\n General for the Georgia Secretary of State. From 2004 until 2007,\n she served as the Solicitor General for DeKalb County. Judge LaGrua\n has over 20 years of trial experience, including her work as Chief\n Senior Assistant District Attorney in DeKalb and Fulton counties and\n as Chief Assistant District Attorney in the Tallapoosa Circuit.\n
\n\n While serving on the bench in Fulton County, Justice LaGrua\n initiated and presided over “My Journey Matters,” a pilot probation\n program designed to divert young offenders from a lifetime of\n incarceration, and presided over the Court’s first Re-Entry Court,\n which worked to integrate prior offenders back into the community\n using close supervision, substance abuse counseling, job-training,\n and advancing education.\n
\n\n Justice LaGrua currently serves as the Chair of Supreme Court Chief\n Justice Harold D. Melton’s COVID-19 Task Force and Chair of the\n State Bar's Bench and Bar Committee. In 2019, she was appointed\n by Governor Kemp to serve as a member of the Judicial Nominating\n Commission. Justice LaGrua was appointed to the Georgia Child\n Support Commission and served as Chair of the Judicial Council’s\n Process Servers Committee. Justice LaGrua also served as the\n President of the Council of Superior Court Judges in 2019-2020.\n While on the Superior Court she served on the Legislative Support\n Team, as vice-chair for the Access to Fairness and Justice\n Committee, and as a member of the Accountability Court and Bench and\n Bar Committees for the Council of Superior Court Judges. She is a\n Member of the Criminal Justice Reform Sub-Committee. In 2016, Judge\n LaGrua received the St. Thomas Moore Award from the St. Thomas Moore\n Society in recognition of “specific actions manifesting a commitment\n to justice and humanity, especially in difficult circumstances”\n related in part to her formation of and continued commitment to the\n My Journey Matters Program. Judge LaGrua taught Advanced Evidence\n and Litigation for her alma mater, Georgia State University College\n of Law and has been a speaker and presenter at multiple conferences\n and seminars during her career, presenting on topics such as RICO,\n State Bar Professionalism during COVID-19, and others.\n
\n\n Justice LaGrua is a Master of the Logan E. Bleckley Inn of Court and\n Lamar Inn of Court. She is a founding member and past Chair of the\n Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, Judicial Application Review\n Committee. She served as the Chair of the Judicial Section of the\n State Bar of Georgia. She is an alumna member of Leadership Atlanta,\n Class of 2012, and served as the Vice Chair of the Criminal Justice\n Day for 2014-2015 and 2019.\n
\n\n Justice LaGrua graduated from the University of Georgia and received\n her Juris Doctorate from the Georgia State University College of\n Law.\n
\n\n Justice LaGrua grew up in a military family where her father served\n in the JAG Corps and her mother served in the Red Cross. She is\n married to husband Chris and has a fur-child, Grizzley.\n
\n\n Governor Brian Kemp appointed Justice Shawn Ellen LaGrua to the\n Georgia Supreme Court in December 2020, and she was sworn in by\n Governor Kemp on January 7, 2021. Prior to then, Justice LaGrua was\n appointed to the Superior Court of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit and\n presided over community initiatives, such as the \"My Journey Matters\"\n and the first Re-Entry Court programs.\n
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