Biography and photo courtesy of Judge Philip Sheward.
Philip Sheward was appointed to serve as a Judge of the Marion Superior Court by Governor Eric Holcomb in July of 2023, and assumed the bench in September of 2023. He is the Judge of Marion Superior Court 24, one of the seven courts in the Marion Superior Court’s Family Division. In January of 2025, Judge Sheward began serving as the Chair of the Family Division, for the term expiring at the end of 2026. As a judge in the Family Division, he presides over the following case types: divorce, paternity, Children in Need of Services, Termination of Parental Rights, juvenile delinquency, juvenile guardianship, adoption, emergency protective orders, expungements, and other miscellaneous matters related to these case types.
Judge Sheward grew up in northwestern Pennsylvania, graduated from Cedarville University (2001) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (2004), and became a proud Hoosier in 2004. From 2004 until 2006 he was a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney with the Allen County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Ft. Wayne, IN, where he was responsible for child support enforcement matters, as well as prosecuting juvenile offenses, adult misdemeanor offenses, and adult felony drug offenses. From 2006 until taking the bench in 2023, Judge Sheward practiced law, first as an Associate Attorney (2006-2011), and then as a Partner (2012-2023), with Allen Wellman McNew Harvey, LLP, in Greenfield, IN, where he also served as a part-time public defender. While in private practice, he gained experience handling a wide variety of criminal defense matters (up to, and including murder,) while also helping people navigate challenges involving divorce, paternity matters, CHINS/TPR cases, guardianships, protective orders, adoptions, and more.
Judge Sheward and his family reside in Indianapolis, IN. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Crystal, and their three children. He also stays active by riding his mountain bike through the woods, studying martial arts, and backpacking in remote wilderness locations, often in the backcountry of our nation’s national parks, like the Grand Tetons, Zion National Park, and the Grand Canyon, among others.
