Hon. Heather McShain

Adjunct Professor of Law

Judge Heather K. McShain is a magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She was sworn in on May 1, 2020.

Previously, McShain was a deputy chief in the Financial Crimes Section and supervised the Health Care Fraud Unit within the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. McShain also served as the Office’s Criminal Health Care Fraud Coordinator. Her responsibilities included supervising all criminal health care fraud matters and coordinating a multi-agency health care fraud working group. Prior to that, McShain served as a deputy chief in General Crimes and a line AUSA in the General Crimes, Financial Crimes, and Public Corruption and Organized Crime Sections. Prior to moving to Chicago, McShain also served as an AUSA in the Civil Division within the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, an associate at Jones Day in Washington, D.C., and a law clerk to Judge Robert Cowen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and Judge William Lee, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.

McShain has received several awards, including those from the Chicago Crime Commission, U.S. Department of Labor, Department of Justice, and the Department of State.

McShain obtained a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Notre Dame and a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School, where she served as lead article editor on the Notre Dame Law Review.