Cheryl Lynn Allen was born in Pittsburgh on December 16, 1947. She attended Schenley High School and was awarded a BA from Penn State University and JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (1975). While attending law school, Judge Allen was a public elementary school teacher in her native town.
Before Judge Allen was appointed to the Common Pleas Bench (Allegheny County) in 1990, she was in private practice, worked for Pennsylvania’s Human Relations commission, employed by the Allegheny Law Department, and served as an attorney for Neighborhood Law Services. Judge Allen was elected to ten-year terms in 1991 and 2001. During the second term, Judge Allen was appointed to the Supreme Court’s Juvenile Court Judges Commission and was an associate professor at Point Park University.
In 2007, Judge Allen became the first African American woman to be elected to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Judge Allen retired from the bench in 2015. She is a founding member of Women Without Walls (WWW) and a former board member of Child Watch and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). In 2015, Judge Allen received the prestigious Geneva College Serving Leader Award.
Judge Allen remains Of Counsel with the Pennsylvania Family Institute and the Independence Law Center.