Marilyn Skoglund (born August 15, 1946) is a former Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. She is well known for having attained admission to the bar and appointment to the bench despite not having gone to law school.
Life and career Marilyn Ruth Signe Skoglund was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 15, 1946, and was raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in fine arts from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1971,Pete Rosenbery, Law school to host Skoglund as jurist-in-residence, The Southern Illinoisan, March 20, 2009 and settled in Plainfield, Vermont in 1973 when her then-husband accepted a teaching position at Goddard College. She was divorced shortly afterwards.Times Argus, Obituary, Duncan Mitchell, January 8, 2010
Skoglund attended the paralegal program at Montpelier's Woodbury College.Pamela Polston, The court's jester Marilyn Skoglund is a honkytonk singer, gun toter, comic, art aficionado, poker player and, oh yes, a respected Supreme Court justice, March 9, 2002 She studied law under the supervision of Louis P. Peck while working in the Vermont Attorney General's office, a practice still permitted in Vermont,Associated Press, Not all lawyers are law school grads, Reading Eagle, October 10, 2005 and became an attorney in 1978.
After receiving her law license Skoglund continued her career in the Vermont Attorney General's office. Her assignments included: Special Assistant Attorney General (1978-1981); Assistant Attorney General (1981-1989); Chief of the Civil Law Division (1989-1993); and Chief of the Public Protection Division (1993-1994).Forster-Long, Inc., The American Bench, 2008, page 2444
In 1994 Skoglund was appointed to the Vermont District Court. She served until 1997, when she was appointed to the Vermont Supreme Court to succeed the retiring Ernest W. Gibson III.Vermont Supreme Court, Biography, Marilyn Skoglund , accessed December 24, 2012
Skoglund was continued in office by the state Judicial Retention Committee in 2005,Nancy Remsen, , Burlington Free Press, February 25, 2005 2011,Boston Globe, Vt. lawmakers vote to keep judges, March 30, 2011 and 2017.
In May 2019, Skoglund informed Governor Phil Scott of her intention to retire effective September 1, 2019. She was succeeded by William D. Cohen.
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