Judge Kim McGinnis

Kim McGinnis, PhD, Esq. served as judge for the Pueblo of Pojoaque for ten years, leaving the bench in 2023. She served as the treatment court judge and as project director for Pojoaque’s Sober Living/Re-Entry Project, among other judicial duties. Judge McGinnis was trained as a neuroscientist before becoming an attorney, earning a Ph.D. in neuropharmacology from the University of Michigan in 1999. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Neurology, Molecular Neurogenetics Unit before graduating from Boston University School of Law in 2004. Dr. McGinnis clerked at the Michigan Court of Appeals and then joined Detroit Legal Aid and Defenders as a felony-level public defender. In 2008, she became an assistant appellate defender with the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office. In 2011, Dr. McGinnis moved to Taos, New Mexico and practiced domestic relations law, primarily representing survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in state and tribal courts. Dr. McGinnis now works for Community Against Violence in Taos, NM, providing pro bono representation for survivors of domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, and sexual assault. Dr. McGinnis has served as a faculty member for the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, National Judicial College, Zero to Three, and All Rise.