Governor Brian Kemp appointed Justice Shawn Ellen LaGrua to the Georgia Supreme Court in December 2020, and she was sworn in by Governor Kemp on January 7, 2021.

Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Justice LaGrua was appointed to the Superior Court of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit by then-Governor Sonny Perdue and was sworn in on June 29, 2010. She served on the bench in the Superior Court of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit until January 2021, having been elected in 2012 and reelected in 2016 and 2020. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she served as Inspector General for the Georgia Secretary of State. From 2004 until 2007, she served as the Solicitor General for DeKalb County. Judge LaGrua has over 20 years of trial experience, including her work as Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney in DeKalb and Fulton counties and as Chief Assistant District Attorney in the Tallapoosa Circuit.

While serving on the bench in Fulton County, Justice LaGrua initiated and presided over “My Journey Matters,” a pilot probation program designed to divert young offenders from a lifetime of incarceration, and presided over the Court’s first Re-Entry Court, which worked to integrate prior offenders back into the community using close supervision, substance abuse counseling, job-training, and advancing education.

Justice LaGrua currently serves as the Chair of Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold D. Melton’s COVID-19 Task Force. In 2019, she was appointed by Governor Kemp to serve as a member of the Judicial Nominating Commission. Justice LaGrua was appointed by Governor Deal and re-appointed by Governor Kemp to the Georgia Child Support Commission and served as Chair of the Judicial Council’s Process Servers Committee. Justice LaGrua also served as the President of the Council of Superior Court Judges in 2019-2020. She serves on the Legislative Support Team, as vice-chair for the Access to Fairness and Justice Committee, and as a member of the Accountability Court and Bench and Bar Committees.  She is a Member of the Criminal Justice Reform Sub-Committee.  In 2016, Judge LaGrua received the St. Thomas More Award from the St. Thomas More Society in recognition of “specific actions manifesting a commitment to justice and humanity, especially in difficult circumstances” related in part to her formation of and continued commitment to the My Journey Matters Program.  Judge LaGrua has been a speaker and presenter at multiple conferences and seminars during her career, presenting on topics such as RICO, State Bar Professionalism during COVID-19, and others.

Justice LaGrua is a Master of the Logan E. Bleckley Inn of Court and Lamar Inn of Court.  She is a founding member and past Chair of the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, Judicial Application Review Committee. She served as the Chair of the Judicial Section of the State Bar of Georgia.  She is an alumna member of Leadership Atlanta, Class of 2012, and served as the Vice Chair of the Criminal Justice Day for 2014-2015 and 2019.

Justice LaGrua graduated from the University of Georgia and received her Juris Doctorate from the Georgia State University College of Law.

Justice LaGrua grew up in a military family where her father served in the JAG Corps.  She is married to husband Chris and has two step-sons and a fur-child.