The Hon. Maureen T. Horkan is a judge for the 4th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. She was elected to the bench in 2018.
The 4th Judicial Circuit encompasses Clay County, Duval County, and Nassau County. Horkan has held assignments in Duval County, presiding over cases in the Domestic Violence Division and the Family Division.
Prior to her election, Horkan was a sole practitioner in her own private practice, a law firm she opened in 2018. Before that, she spent time as an attorney at Jason K.S. Porter Law (2013 to 2018). During this time, Horkan specialized in family law matters.
Horkan earned an associate's degree from Broward Community College (1992). She financed her studies by working as a flight attendant for Eastern Airlines in Fort Lauderdale. She then completed a bachelor's degree in English literature at Smith College (1995) and a J.D. at Florida State University College of Law (1998). As a law student, Horkan interned at the Florida Supreme Court and the Children's Advocacy Clinic. She was also president of the Women’s Law Symposium and an editor for the Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law.
After graduating from law school, Horkan began her legal career as an assistant state attorney in the Office of the State Attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit. During her tenure there, she was a member of the Special Assault Division, the Juvenile Division, and the Jimmy Ryce Division.
Then, in 2004, she moved to the Office of the Statewide Prosecutor for the Florida Attorney General. She spent the next year as an assistant statewide prosecutor, handling criminal conspiracies, multi-circuit, and multi-defendant cases involving white collar crimes, RICO, narcotics trafficking, fraud, money laundering, child pornography, and high technology crimes.
Horkan joined the Florida Attorney General's Office in 2005. She served as the Director of its Child Predator Cybercrime Unit until 2011, at which time she became special projects counsel for Florida State College at Jacksonville.
Her memberships have included the Jacksonville Bar Association, the Family Law Section of the Florida Bar, Jacksonville Women Lawyers, and the Jacksonville Pro Bono Committee. She has also volunteered as a Guardian ad Litem and a mentor with Take Stock in Children.
Horkan was raised in Carmel, New York, and graduated from Carmel High School in 1980. She attends Assumption Catholic Church and is a certified yoga instructor.