Judge Profile:

Chief Justice Eric J. Magnuson Supreme Court Minnesota Judicial Center Phone: (651) 297-7650 Eric J. Magnuson became Minnesota’s 21^st Chief Justice on June 2, 2008. Prior to his appointment, Magnuson was an attorney and shareholder in the business litigation department at the Briggs and Morgan Law Firm in Minneapolis, practicing almost exclusively in state and federal appellate courts, and working in consultation with trial attorneys on matters in anticipation of appeal. Previously, he was an attorney and partner with the Rider Bennett law firm in Minneapolis from 1977 to 2007, where he chaired the appellate group practice and was managing partner from 1999 to 2000. He was a law clerk to former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Sheran from 1976 to 1977, and, prior to that, a law clerk to former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Douglas K. Amdahl, who was a Hennepin County district court judge at the time. Before joining the bench, he served as chair of the Commission on Judicial Selection from 2003 to 2008, having been appointed by Governor Tim Pawlenty. The Commission solicits judicial candidates, evaluates applicants, and recommends 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. He also served as chair of a number of ad hoc screening committees appointed by the governor to make recommendations for candidates seeking appointment to the Minnesota Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. He is the founding president of the 8th Circuit Bar Association. In addition, he is a Fellow and past president of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and was a co-reporter to the Minnesota Supreme Court Appellate Rules Committee. He has been a longtime member of the American Bar Association, serving as co-chair of the Appellate Practice Committee of the Section on Litigation, and in the same capacity for the Appellate Advocacy Committee of the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section. He is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, where past leadership roles have included serving as chair of the Court Rules and Judicial Administration Committee, as well as the Court of Appeals Task Force. He has served as an associate professor of law at William Mitchell College of Law and the University of St. Thomas School of Law. He has written and edited a number of federal and state appellate treatises. He is co-author of the 2007 edition of West Publishing’s Minnesota Practice: Appellate Rules Annotate; co-editor and chapter author for the fourth edition of Eighth Circuit Appellate Practice Manual; and co-editor of Matthew Bender’s The Art of Advocacy: Appeals. Chief Justice Magnuson received a B.A. in history from the University of Minnesota. He graduated cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law.

Chief Justice Eric J. Magnuson

Supreme Court

Minnesota Judicial Center
Phone: (651) 297-7650

Eric J. Magnuson became Minnesota’s 21^st Chief Justice on June 2, 2008. Prior to his appointment, Magnuson was an attorney and shareholder in the business litigation department at the Briggs and Morgan Law Firm in Minneapolis, practicing almost exclusively in state and federal appellate courts, and working in consultation with trial attorneys on matters in anticipation of appeal. Previously, he was an attorney and partner with the Rider Bennett law firm in Minneapolis from 1977 to 2007, where he chaired the appellate group practice and was managing partner from 1999 to 2000.

He was a law clerk to former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Sheran from 1976 to 1977, and, prior to that, a law clerk to former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Douglas K. Amdahl, who was a Hennepin County district court judge at the time.

Before joining the bench, he served as chair of the Commission on Judicial Selection from 2003 to 2008, having been appointed by Governor Tim Pawlenty. The Commission solicits judicial candidates, evaluates applicants, and recommends 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. He also served as chair of a number of ad hoc screening committees appointed by the governor to make recommendations for candidates seeking appointment to the Minnesota Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.

He is the founding president of the 8th Circuit Bar Association. In addition, he is a Fellow and past president of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and was a co-reporter to the Minnesota Supreme Court Appellate Rules Committee. He has been a longtime member of the American Bar Association, serving as co-chair of the Appellate Practice Committee of the Section on Litigation, and in the same capacity for the Appellate Advocacy Committee of the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section. He is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, where past leadership roles have included serving as chair of the Court Rules and Judicial Administration Committee, as well as the Court of Appeals Task Force.

He has served as an associate professor of law at William Mitchell College of Law and the University of St. Thomas School of Law.

He has written and edited a number of federal and state appellate treatises. He is co-author of the 2007 edition of West Publishing’s Minnesota Practice: Appellate Rules Annotate; co-editor and chapter author for the fourth edition of Eighth Circuit Appellate Practice Manual; and co-editor of Matthew Bender’s The Art of Advocacy: Appeals.

Chief Justice Magnuson received a B.A. in history from the University of Minnesota. He graduated cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law.