Senior Judge Leslie May Metzen

Appointed/Elected:

Appointed May 7, 1986. Elected 1988, 1994, 2000 and, 2006.

Retired May 20, 2009.

Appointed and assigned to serve statewide as Senior Judge from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2025.

Chief Judge First Judicial District 1997-2001; Chair-Conference of Chief Judges 1999-2001

Education:

J.D., William Mitchell College of Law, 1979
B.S., With Distinction, University of Minnesota, 1970

Employment:

Attorney, Private Practice with Thuet, Lynch, Pugh & Rogosheske, and Thomas Lacy Law Office, 1980-1986; Director of Development, Derham Hall High School, 1975-1976; Spanish Teacher, Derham Hall High School, 1970-1975

Extra Judicial Assignments

Juvenile Justice Task Force; Chair of Committee to Revise Minnesota Procedural Rules for Juvenile Delinquency; Member, Parental Cooperation Task Force; Member, SSP Restorative Justice Council; Supreme Court Appeal Panel; Founding member, Dakota County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council; Dakota County Criminal Justice Council; and Supreme Court Inter-Court Committee.

Professional Memberships:

Past and present: Minnesota District Judges Association; Minnesota Women Lawyers; National Assoc. of Women Judges; Minnesota State Bar Association; Dakota County Bar Association-current bench liaison.

TEACHING AND LECTURES:

Taught sessions on Judicial Writing and Juvenile Law and Procedure to New Minnesota Judges; Judicial Panel on Restorative Justice in Colorado; Served as trial advocacy judge for students at William Mitchell College of Law; Critiqued new judges at mock trial program, U of M School of Law; Juvenile law lecturer at Hamline Law School; Minnesota CLE presenter on juvenile and family law.

AWARDS:

1999 Rosalie Wahl Judicial Award of Excellence from the Minnesota State Bar Association; 2001 Annual Award for Improvement of Judicial System from Minnesota District Judges Association.