Co-Chair, Merchant & Gould, Associate Training Committee, 1993 - 1996
Personal: Happily married to Judy Lacy for over 24 years; we have one
son, Ben, age 16
Hobbies: reading, canoeing, camping
Honors and Awards:
Editor-in-Chief, California Western Law Review, 1985 - 1986
Editor-in-Chief, California Western International Law Journal, 1985 - 1986
Staff Writer, California Western Law Review, 1984 - 1985
Corpus Juris Secundum Award for Legal Scholarship, 1986
Certificate of Merit, Student Bar Association, 1986
Speeches and Publications:
Seminar Co-Chair, Speaker and Author, "Patents and Product Protection",
Minnesota State Bar Association, April, 2002.
Author, Amicus Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the American
Intellectual Property Law Association in The New York Times Co. et al.
v. Tasini, et al., No. 00-201.
Program Chair and Speaker, Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association
Dinner Presenting Federal Circuit Judges, October, 2000.
Seminar Co-Chair, Speaker and Author, "Patents, The Law and the CAFC", Minnesota
State Bar Association, October, 2000.
Seminar Co-Chair, Speaker and Author, "Litigation In Intellectual Property
Cases", Minnesota State Bar Association and Minnesota Intellectual Property
Law Association, February, 1999.
Seminar Chair and Speaker, MIPLA Annual CLE Stampede, Minnesota Intellectual
Property Law Association, June, 1998.
Seminar Co-Chair, Speaker and Author, MIPLA Annual CLE Stampede, Minnesota
Intellectual Property Law Association, May, 1997.
Author, Patent Applicants Should Avoid Ambiguous Terms, National
Law Journal, October 28, 1996.
Seminar Co-Chair, Speaker and Author, MIPLA Annual CLE Stampede, Minnesota
Intellectual Property Law Association, May, 1996.
Author, Implications of Summa Corp. v. California ex. rel.
State Lands Comm'n on the Property Rights of the Eastern American Indians,
22 CAL. W.L. REV. 385 (1986).
1. Why do you want to be a judge?
I have wanted to be a judge since before the time that I clerked for Chief Judge
Donald P. Lay, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Through
my work with the Eight Circuit, I confirmed that desire. I believe that judges
play a very difficult and unheralded role in today’s society. They act as both
mediator and decision maker, listener and legal interpreter. People don’t come
before a judge, merely for the experience. They are either there because they
have been accused of crimes, or because they have a dispute that they could
not resolve without the court’s aid.
2. Why should voters select you rather than your opponent in the upcoming election?
Voters should select me, because of my experience, training and abilities. I have worked with people in many capacities, including my years working as a professional for the March of Dimes and Boy Scouts, before becoming an attorney. As a judge, the ability to work with people can often be as important as legal skills. In addition, I excelled in law school, and expanded my legal skills through my work with the Eighth Circuit. As an attorney, I have handled patent and trademark cases, which are some of the most complex cases. I have also worked in many different courts across the country.
3. What experience have you had in dealing with the court on which you wish
to sit?
I have only been in front of the Tenth District Court on a very limited number
of occasions. However, I have been involved in litigation in various other state
courts, including an eleven-week trial in Mankato, as well as matters before
the Minnesota Court of Appeals and the Minnesota Supreme Court. In addition,
I have been involved in litigation in state and federal courts across the country,
from Minnesota to Florida, and California to Virginia. By viewing the activities
in many different courts, I can see the common problems, as well as examine
various potential solutions.
4. What are the major issues facing the court on which you wish to serve? How can these realistically be addressed?
The major issues facing the Tenth District are similar to those faced everywhere: effectively managing the ever-increasing criminal and civil dockets, with the limited resources that are available. I believe that the greatest efficiencies and most savings can be attained in the short term, by implementation of a more electronic-based court management and filing service. Because the Minnesota federal court has implemented some electronic handling of its cases, we ought to be able to learn from their successes and failures, thereby avoiding the need to invent an entirely new system.
5. Do you believe it is good policy to discuss disputed legal and political issues during a judicial campaign? If so, what issues do you plan to discuss and why. If not, why shouldn't such issues be discussed?
I believe that it is not good policy to discuss disputed legal and political issues during judicial campaigns. As a judge, my personal opinions must be set aside, as much as humanly possible, in order to understand the issues, and apply the law to the facts presented.
6. What else, if anything, would you like the voters to know about your candidacy that you have not discussed so far?
I am running for the position for two main reasons. First, I believe that my expertise and experiences make me the right candidate to vote for. Second, I believe that the non-partisan election process is a fair and equitable means to select judges.
Uncontested
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