Joseph Michael McLaughlin (born 1933) is a federal appellate judge in the United States.
Born in Brooklyn, New York. He received an A.B. from Fordham College in 1954, and was in the United States Army Corps of Engineers Captain from 1955 to 1957. He then received a LL.B. from Fordham University School of Law in 1959, and an LL.M. from New York University School of Law in 1964. He was in private practice of law in New York City from 1959 to 1961. He worked as a law professor at Fordham University School of Law in Manhattan from 1961 to 1971. In 1971, McLaughlin became Dean of Fordham Law School, a position he held for ten years.
On July 29, 1981, McLaughlin was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York created by 92 Stat. 1629. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 25, 1981, and received his commission on September 28, 1981. On July 10, 1990, President George H. W. Bush nominated McLaughlin for elevation to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated by Lawrence Warren Pierce. McLaughlin's was confirmed to the court of appeals by the United States Senate on October 12, 1990, and received commission on October 17, 1990. He assumed senior status on March 20, 1998, but continues to hear cases in that capacity.
In addition to serving as a judge, since 1982, McLaughlin has been an adjunct professor of law at St. John's University School of Law and Fordham University School of Law. His publications include numerous works on the law of evidence and civil procedure. Judge McLaughlin is the co-author of Peterfreund and McLaughlin, Cases and Methods on New York Practice. He is the author of Practice Commentaries for McKinney's New York CPLR and the PLI Monograph on Evidence. He is also the editor-in-chief of Federal Practice Guide (Matthew Bender), and of Weinstein’s Evidence (Matthew Bender).