Judge Sean P. O'Donnell - Superior Court

• Courtroom Number: W-331
• Bailiff: Ann Brockenbrough 
• Department: 29
• Assignment: Chief Judge, Unified Family Court

Biography

Sean P. O’Donnell is chief judge for King County’s Unified Family Court. Since joining the be331nch in 2013, Judge O’Donnell has been on the court’s family law, civil and criminal dockets, including 2 years as the Court’s Chief Criminal Judge. He has presided over numerous ‘all remote’ jury trials and helped lead efforts to implement the Court’s virtual jury selection and virtual trial procedures and training during the pandemic. Judge O’Donnell helped draft rules currently pending before Washington’s Supreme Court that would authorize trial courts to continue remote trials and jury selection after pandemic emergency orders expire. In 2022, he helped establish King County’s Protection Order Court pilot project, which is in its first year of operation. He is keenly interested in A.I. and the possibilities and challenges it presents to the legal profession.

Judge O’Donnell graduated from Georgetown University and Seattle University School of Law. He served as a senior deputy prosecutor for 12 years and handled the state’s first human trafficking case and first commercial sexual abuse of a minor case. While a prosecutor, Judge O’Donnell was a member of the Green River Task Force, which oversaw the investigation and prosecution of serial murderer Gary L. Ridgway (the "Green River Killer"). He has trained lawyers and police nationally and internationally on how to prosecute human trafficking cases.

Judge O’Donnell has led 3 statewide branch task forces in Washington: to improve courthouse security, to reform Washington’s pre-trial release practices, and to increase state funding for court interpreters. He is the legislative co-chair for the Superior Court Judges’ Association.

Judge O’Donnell is the former President of the Superior Court Judges’ Association, a statewide organization representing 192 trial court judicial officers across Washington.

Judge O’Donnell is the 2004 co-recipient of the “Outstanding Lawyer of the Year” from the King County Bar Association and the 2018 recipient of “Judge of the Year” from the American Board of Trial Advocates (Puget Sound Chapter). Judge O’Donnell is member of the Rainier Scholars Resource Council.

He lives with his wife and their 2 teenage children in Seattle.