Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced the appointment of Shawn M. Moynihan to a First Judicial District trial court bench vacancy in the city of Hastings in Dakota County.  The opening is as a result of the resignation of Judge Mary E. Pawlenty on February 12.

Moynihan is an attorney and partner with the Hastings law firm of Fluegel and Moynihan, and is the Hastings City attorney and the prosecutor for the city of Rosemount.  He has been an attorney with the Fluegel and Moynihan firm since 1992.  Previously, Moynihan was an associate attorney with the Hastings law firm of Hertogs, Fluegel, Sieben, Polk, Jones, and Laverdiere from 1982 to 1992.  Moynihan earned his juris doctorate degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1982, and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1977.

“Shawn has a varied background in both civil and criminal law, and has tried hundreds of cases over his 25 years of practicing in Dakota County,” Governor Pawlenty said.  “But what sets Shawn apart is the respect he has among judges and practitioners for his interpersonal skills – his even temperament, and respectful manner.”

Moynihan is a member of the American, Minnesota State, and Dakota County Bar Associations.  He is a Boy Scout Leader for Troop 503 in Hastings, and a Cub Scout Leader for Pack 92 in Hastings, a funeral mass server for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, and a volunteer speaker for the Hastings Police Explorers program, Hastings High School, and the Hastings Crime Free Multi-Housing Program.  He has also been a Hastings Youth Athletic Association coach, a member of the Dakota County Domestic Abuse Task Force, Hastings Crime Prevention Committee, Hastings Community Access Corporation Board of Directors, and United Way of Hastings, serving as president in 1995.

Moynihan, 52, was born in St. Paul, grew up in Apple Valley, and now lives in Hastings with his wife, Annette, and their four children, Meghan, 20, John, 17, Tom, 15, and Matthew, 10.