United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
About This Court
The District of Minnesota is a single-district federal court covering all 87 counties of the state of Minnesota, sitting within the Eighth Circuit. It handles the full range of federal civil and criminal matters arising across a geographically diverse state that includes major urban centers, rural agricultural regions, and tribal lands. The court is headquartered in Minneapolis and also holds court in several other cities throughout the state.
As one of the larger single-state federal districts, the District of Minnesota has a substantial and varied docket. The court has developed particular experience with complex multidistrict litigation, as it is frequently selected as an MDL transferee court for large-scale products liability and other consolidated federal cases.
The court operates under the local rules of the District of Minnesota and is administered through the District of Minnesota clerk's office in Minneapolis. Judges are assigned cases on a district-wide basis, though court sessions are held at multiple locations across the state.
Proceedings are governed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and Federal Rules of Evidence, along with the court's local rules. Bankruptcy cases are handled by the companion Bankruptcy Court, District of Minnesota.
Divisions
Minneapolis Division (Minneapolis), St. Paul Division (St. Paul), Duluth Division (Duluth), Fergus Falls Division (Fergus Falls)
Caseload
The District of Minnesota is a prominent venue for multidistrict litigation consolidations and handles a significant volume of complex civil cases alongside its standard federal criminal and civil docket. Cases involving Native American law, agricultural matters, and financial services litigation also appear with regularity given the state's economic and demographic profile.
Bar Admission
Attorneys must be admitted to practice before the District of Minnesota, which generally requires membership in good standing in the Minnesota State Bar or another state bar, along with compliance with the court's local rules governing pro hac vice admission for attorneys not licensed in Minnesota.
Clerk's Office
300 South Fourth Street, Minneapolis, MN 55415
(612) 664-5000
Active Judges 17
| Name | Appointed By | Confirmed | Law School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donald Alsop | Richard M. Nixon | 1974 | University of Minnesota Law School |
| Jerry Blackwell | Joseph R. Biden | 2022 | University of North Carolina School of Law |
| Nancy Brasel | Donald J. Trump | 2018 | University of Minnesota Law School |
| Jeffrey Bryan | Joseph R. Biden | 2023 | Yale Law School |
| Michael Davis | William J. Clinton | 1994 | University of Minnesota Law School |
| David Doty | Ronald Reagan | 1987 | University of Minnesota Law School |
| Joan Ericksen | George W. Bush | 2002 | University of Minnesota Law School |
| Donovan Frank | William J. Clinton | 1998 | Hamline University School of Law |
| Paul Magnuson | Ronald Reagan | 1981 | William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline School of Law) |
| Katherine Menendez | Joseph R. Biden | 2021 | New York University School of Law |
| Ann Montgomery | William J. Clinton | 1996 | University of Minnesota Law School |
| Susan Nelson | Barack Obama | 2010 | University of Pittsburgh School of Law |
| Laura Provinzino | Joseph R. Biden | 2024 | Yale Law School |
| Patrick Schiltz | George W. Bush | 2006 | Harvard Law School |
| Eric Tostrud | Donald J. Trump | 2018 | William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline School of Law) |
| John Tunheim | William J. Clinton | 1995 | University of Minnesota Law School |
| Wilhelmina Wright | Barack Obama | 2016 | Harvard Law School |
Local Rules
60 local rules extracted from this court's published rules. See the court's official website for the authoritative text.