Carolyn Baldwin McHugh (born July 12, 1957) is an American lawyer and judge who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. and former Presiding Judge of the Utah Court of Appeals. Early life and education McHugh was born in 1957, in Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania while her parents were visiting her paternal grandparents. The family, which grew to include eight children, was actually living in Baltimore, Maryland at the time. Shortly after McHugh's birth, her father was transferred to Andover, Massachusetts, and later, to Wilmington, Delaware. During her freshman year of high school, the family moved again to accommodate her father's career, relocating in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1975, McHugh graduated from Judge Memorial Catholic High School in Salt Lake City, where she participated in sports, student government, drill team, yearbook, and other activities. McHugh was selected as the Judge Memorial Sterling Scholar of English and Literature. McHugh continued her education at the University of Utah, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, in 1978. After working for a year to earn her first year of tuition, McHugh entered the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah in 1979. She received her Juris Doctor in 1982, graduating Order of the Coif, serving as an Editor of the Utah Law Review, and receiving many other honors, including: American Jurisprudence Awards for the Highest Grade in Antitrust, Constitutional Law II, Criminal Law, Evidence, Torts, and Trusts and Estates William H. Leary Scholar, 1979–82; Eccles Fellow for the 1981–82 school year. Legal career McHugh served as a law clerk to Judge Bruce S. Jenkins of the United States District Court for the District of Utah from August 1982 to August 1983. She joined the Salt Lake City law firm now known as Parr Brown Gee & Loveless as an associate in 1983, and was made a shareholder of the firm in 1987. During her private legal career, McHugh concentrated her practice in complex commercial litigation, in areas including antitrust, construction, environmental, real estate, financial lending, and title insurance. Throughout that time, McHugh also maintained an active pro bono practice, assisting persons of limited means with a variety of legal issues, including family law and small civil matters, while also serving as a court-appointed guardian ad litem. Judicial career State judicial service In August