Lorie Skjerven Gildea


Lorie Skjerven Gildea is an American attorney and jurist serving as Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. She served as an associate justice on the Court from 2006 to 2010 and as a district judge for Hennepin County in the Fourth Judicial District from 2005 to 2006.

Early life and education

Gildea was born on October 6, 1961 and raised in Plummer, Minnesota. She received a Bachelor of Arts, with distinction, from the University of Minnesota Morris in 1983, and a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1986.

Career

After law school, she remained in Washington, D.C. and entered private practice at Arent Fox.
Gildea later returned to Minnesota where, after working briefly as a special prosecutor for the city of Minneapolis, she became an associate general counsel for the University of Minnesota. She represented the University system for eleven years, including during the scandal involving former men's basketball coach Clem Haskins. She served on the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission from 2001 to 2004 under Governors Jesse Ventura and Tim Pawlenty.

Judicial service

Pawlenty later appointed her as an Associate Justice. Gildea's seat on the Court was up for election in 2008. She defeated three opponents in the primary election and Hennepin County District Judge Deborah Hedlund in the general election. In 2010, Governor Pawlenty appointed her the new Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, replacing Eric Magnuson. Her term as Chief Justice began on July 1, 2010 and she was sworn in at a ceremony on July 12, 2010 in Saint Paul.

Personal life

Gildea lives in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis.