Lawyer and Judge Regulation

Lawyer Registration (MARS) Register as a lawyer, review the student practice rules, or search the lawyer database.

The Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board The Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board oversees and administers the state's attorney discipline system.

Lawyer Trust Account Board The Lawyer Trust Account Board (LTAB) makes grants from funds generated by Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts (IOLTA). The purpose of the IOLTA program is to enhance the availability of civil legal services to low income people. Grants are made to programs that provide direct legal services, programs that support the provision of direct legal services, programs that deliver law related public education, and programs that work to enhancement the administration of justice. LTAB also administers attorney registration funds granted to the statewide lawyer assistance program.

Minnesota Client Security Board The Client Security Board considers claims filed by and compensates victims of attorney theft.

Minnesota State Board of Law Examiners The Minnesota Board of Law Examiners administers a bar examination each February and July and licenses attorneys to the practice of law in Minnesota.

Minnesota Board of Continuing Legal Education All licensed Minnesota attorneys are required to participate in continuing legal education (CLE). The Board of Continuing Legal Education administers the CLE program, approves applications for course accreditation, and ensures that attorneys meet CLE requirements.

Minnesota State Board of Legal Certification The Board of Legal Certification certifies attorneys as specialists in certain fields of law.

Commission on Judicial Selection The Commission solicits judicial candidates, evaluates applicants, and recommends three to five finalists to the Governor for district court and Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals vacancies that occur during the term of a judge. The commission consists of 49 members: 27 appointed by the Governor, and 22 by the Supreme Court.

Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards The Board on Judicial Standards is an independent state agency that receives and acts upon complaints about Minnesota judges for judicial misconduct or wrongdoing. The board also handles judicial disability matters.

Minnesota Code of Judicial Conduct The Code of Judicial Conduct establishes standards for the ethical conduct of judges to reflect the responsibilities of the judicial office as a public trust and to promote confidence in our legal system. The Code and its individual Canons are designed to provide guidance to judges and candidates for judicial office and to provide a framework for the regulation of conduct through the Board on Judicial Standards. At the same time, the text embodies standards of judicial and personal conduct intended to be binding on judges and candidates for judicial office.

Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission The Sentencing Guidelines Commission embodies the goals of the criminal justice system as determined by the citizens of our state through their elected representatives. This system promotes uniform and proportional sentences for convicted felons and helps to ensure that sentencing decisions are not influenced by factors such as race, gender, or the exercise of constitutional rights by the defendant. The guidelines serve as a model for the criminal justice system as a whole to aspire to, as well as provide a standard to measure how well the system is working.