Appointed/Elected:

Appointed on Mar. 27, 2008, by Governor Tim Pawlenty. Elected in 2010, 2016, and 2022. Retired on Oct. 31, 2024. Appointed and assigned to serve statewide as Senior Judge from Feb. 1, 2025, to June 30, 2025.

Education:

B.A. Degree from Cornell College in 1976 (history and political science). 

J.D. Degree from the William Mitchell College of Law in 1980.  Editor-in-Chief of the William Mitchell Law Review (1979-80).

Employment:

1981-2008—Attorney; Hansen, Dordell, Bradt, Odlaug & Bradt, P.L.L.P.; Partner (1990-2008) and Managing Partner (1998-2002).

1980-1981—Law Clerk, Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Sheran.

1979—Law Clerk, Hennepin County District Court Judge Harold Kalina.

Judicial Activities and Professional Memberships:

Current:

• Minnesota District Judges Association - Judicial Safety Committee Co-Chair
• Minnesota District Judges Foundation - Finance Committee Chair
• Civil Jury Instruction Guide Committee
• Minnesota State Bar Association
• Ramsey County Bar Association (President, 2004-2005)

Past:

• Acting Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court in MacDonald v. Simon, A24-1022 (Minn. Jul. 15, 2024)
• Minnesota District Judges Foundation Board of Directors (2014-2024)
• Member, Criminal Division, Second Judicial District
• Chief Judge, Second Judicial District
• Member, Treatment Court Initiative
• Co-Chair, Interpreter Services Workgroup
• Lead, Judge, Minnesota Asbestos Litigation
• Assistant Chief Judge, Second Judicial District
• Co-Presiding Judge, Ramsey County Mental Health Court
• Minnesota District Judges Association Board of Directors (2012-2014)
• Member, Civil Division, Second Judicial District
• Ramsey County Bar Association representative to the Minnesota Bar Association Assembly (2007-2013)

Professional and Community Activities:

Member of American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)

Rotary Club of St. Paul - President (2014-2015)

Ramsey County Historical Society Board of Directors, 2014-2023

Member of Minnesota Special Education Task Force- Legislative appointment through Commissioner of Bureau of Mediation Services (2007-08)

PACER Center, Inc. – Board of Directors Member, 1993-1999, 2000-2006, 2007-2014, 2016-2022, and 2023-present; President, 1996-1998 and 2004-2006

Northern Star Council, Boy Scouts of America- Board of Directors, 2005-present, President, Board of Directors, 2021-2023, and Immediate Past President, 2023-present

North Star Museum of Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting- Board of Directors Member, 1999-present; Board Chair, 2000-2007

Governor’s Interagency Coordinating Council on Early Childhood Intervention- Appointed by Gov. Arne Carlson, Member (1992-2001), Chair (1995-96)

First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry (Civil War Reenactment organization)

Additional Information:

AWARDS/HONORS

Minnesota District Judges Association President’s Award (2024)

Lifetime Judicial Excellence Award - Minnesota Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) (2024)

Minnesota District Judges Foundation President’s Award (2023)

Marcy S. Wallace Excellence in Leadership Award, William Mitchell Law Review (2015)

William Spurgeon National Explorer Scouting Award (2009)

Named a “Super Lawyer” by Minnesota Law & Politics magazine, 2001-2005, 2007

Woodward/White, Inc.'s "The Best Lawyers In America," 2006-2008.

Highland Park High School Hall of Fame

Silver Beaver Award—Indianhead Council, Boy Scouts of America (2002)

“Volunteer Hall of Fame” - Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine (2001)

Eagle Scout (1968)

SELECTED WRITING AND LECTURING

Minnesota Rag: Scandal Sheets, Prior Restraint, and How Minneapolis Gangsters Helped Save the First Amendment. Co-presenter; MN District Judges Foundation Fall Educational Conference (2024).
 
Adjunct Professor—Alternative Dispute Resolution--University of Minnesota Law School (2024-present)
 
Bartenders Wanted - Women Need Not Apply—Lecture delivered to the Ramsey County Historical Society, Minnesota State Bar Association, Ramsey County Bar Association, Hennepin County Bar Association, MN District Judges Foundation Fall Educational Conference, the MN Ass’n for Justice, and two Inns of Court (2020-2025)

Clara Anderson v. City of St. Paul: A Woman’s Fight to Save Her Job in the Face of Discrimination, Vol. 55, No. 1, Ramsey County History Magazine (2020)

State of Minnesota v. T. Eugene Thompson: The Murder that Shocked St. Paul and Beyond.  Delivered at the MN District Judges Foundation Fall Educational Conference and on two other occasions.  Program moderator for Judge Jeff Thompson.

Ramsey County Mental Health Court: Working With Community Partners to Improve the Lives of Mentally Ill Defendants, Reduce Recidivism, and Enhance Public Safety, 41 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. (2015)

New Rules of Civil Procedure – Uninsured, Underinsured, No-Fault Insurance and Bodily Injury Update, Minnesota CLE (2014)

Co-Author, Ramsey County Condemnation Proceedings Handbook (2013)

The Continuing Controversy Over the Captured Flag of the 28th Virginia—Lecture delivered on multiple occasions to the Legal Employee’s Educational Association, the St. Paul Rotary Club, and the Twin Cities Civil War Roundtable

Lecturer--Damages Seminar--University of Minnesota Law School (1989-2002)

Editor- Negotiation Practice, Roger Haydock (1984)

Adjunct Legal Writing Instructor, William Mitchell College of Law, 1979-1980 and 1981-1982

Research Historian for Book - Minnesota Rag (Random House 1981), by Fred W. Friendly, former President of CBS News