After leaving Vanderbilt, McLaughlin returned to private practice for fourteen years, during which time she served as a partner at the law firm of Dechert LLP. She also completed stints as an adjunct professor at both the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University law schools. In 1995, McLaughlin was appointed chief counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government (a subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee).
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John Shiffman, Kristina Cooke (2013-06-21). "The judges who preside over America's secret court". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2013-06-23. Retrieved 2013-07-01. Twelve of the 14 judges who have served this year on the most secret court in America are Republicans and half are former prosecutors.