About Judge Moriarty

Judge Patrick Moriarty was honored to be appointed by Governor Inslee to a newly created position on the Snohomish County Superior Court bench in June 2022, and he successfully won his  election to retain his seat in November 2023.  He now stands for election to a 4-year term in 2024, along with all Superior Court judges in the state.

Judge Moriarty grew up in Massachusetts in a family of eleven children. His father was an attorney and then a Superior Court judge. Pat graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and earned his law degree at Western New England University. With his then fiancé Evelyn, he moved to Washington in 1990.

For 27 years, Pat gained a broad array of legal expertise as a Public Defender, Assistant City Attorney in Seattle, and private attorney. He handled matters of criminal defense, juvenile representation, dependencies, drug court, personal injury and many of the other types of legal issues that now come before him as a Superior Court judge. This deep experience now serves him well as a valued member of the Court.

For 17 years, Pat served as a Judge Pro Tem in Snohomish County followed by 4 years as a Superior Court Commissioner.

Judge Moriarty’s wife Evelyn works in insurance claims, and their daughter Emily, who graduated from the University of Washington, is a care coordinator at SeaMar Clinic.

Judge Moriarty hopes to use his judicial career to play a role in expanding access to justice for those community members of limited means and to strengthen the therapeutic courts as a means of keeping families together.