Honorable Malachy E. Mannion
Judge Mannion is a 1972 graduate of the Scranton Preparatory School and a recipient of Prep's T. Donald Rinfret distinguished alumni award; a 1976 graduate of the University of Scranton with a B.S. in Psychology where he was Class President, a member of the Psi Chi National Honor Society and Who's Who Among American Colleges and Universities; and a 1979 graduate of Pace University School of Law with a Juris Doctor where he was President of the Law School Alumni Association.
His legal career began in White Plains, NY in 1979, where he was an associate with the law firm of Bartels, Pykett & Aronwald, Esqs. From 1980–1986 he served as an Assistant District Attorney in Nassau County, NY where, as a senior trial attorney, he investigated and tried numerous cases ranging from homicide to organized crime, burglary to narcotics, rape to armed robbery. He also served as the trial supervisor responsible for instructing and supervising 46 assistant district attorneys in trial practice and procedure.
Judge Mannion was an Assistant United States Attorney and Chief of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) in the Middle District of Pennsylvania from 1986–1993 and 1997–2001. During that time he tried many noteworthy and high profile cases including "Examscam." He also served as the District's Security Manager, possessing a top secret United States Government security clearance. He was, and still is, a regular speaker, instructor and judge at the U.S. Department of Justice's National Advocacy Center (NAC) in Columbia, SC. Judge Mannion was also a member of the U.S. Department of Justice's Evaluation and Review Staff (EARS) charged with critically evaluating the performance and procedures used in the 94 United States Attorney's offices across the country.
Judge Mannion was a partner in the regional civil litigation firm of Hourigan, Kluger, Spohrer & Quinn, PC. from 1993-1997. In that time he handled and tried numerous civil matters, in both federal and state courts, with a focus on medical malpractice, negligence and commercial litigation.
In 2001, Judge Mannion was appointed to the federal bench for an 8 year term as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He was reappointed to a second 8 year term in 2009. In 2011 he became the Chief United States Magistrate Judge in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. In 2012, Judge Mannion was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as a United States District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He was given a unanimously well qualified rating by the American Bar Association, the highest possible rating a prospective judicial candidate can receive. With the strong support of Pennsylvania Senators Robert P. Casey and Patrick J. Toomey, the United States Senate unanimously confirmed his nomination on December 21, 2012.
Judge Mannion is the Immediate Past President of the Federal Magistrate Judges Association (FMJA), an association of over 584 federal judges throughout the United States. Additionally, he was a member of the Administrative Office of United States Court's Advisory Committee on Magistrate Judges and is a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit's Judicial Council's IT Committee. He is a past president of the Middle District of Pennsylvania's chapter of the Federal Bar Association. He has been involved with numerous community organizations as a coach for youth baseball, basketball, soccer and softball as well as the Pennsylvania State Champion Scranton Prep mock trial team. He has also been active with many charitable organizations including St. Joseph's Center, Friends of the Poor and St. John Vianney Parish.
In addition to the NAC, he has written and lectured nationally in the areas of trial practice, e-discovery, federal rules, money laundering, the fourth amendment, federal trial & motion practice, official corruption, ethics, legal writing, and discovery for the Attorney General's Advocacy Institute, the Federal Magistrate Judges Association, the Federal Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Pace University School of Law, Widener University Law School, the Lackawanna Bar Association, the Wilkes Barre Law and Library Association, the University of Scranton, Marywood University, Wilkes University and Kings College.
Judge Mannion has been married to his wife Peggy for 31 years. They are the proud parents of four children: Christopher, Ryan, Jason and Cara.