Former MSBA President Leo Brisbois Appointed U.S. Magistrate Judge

Leo Brisbois, former president of the MSBA (2009-10), has been appointed U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota. Brisbois will take the oath of office on Monday, August 30, and will chamber in Duluth, serving a large area across northern Minnesota.

"I am humbled and deeply honored at having been extended the opportunity to serve the people of both the State of Minnesota and the United States in the role of a U.S. Magistrate Judge," Brisbois said.

"I believe that public service is among the very highest of professional callings," he said. "I want to thank the members of the Merit Selection Panel and the Judges of the United States District Court, District of Minnesota, for this honor and the opportunity to serve. The values which were instilled in me while growing up on the Iron Range and which will serve as touchstones to guide me in the performance of my new duties as a Magistrate Judge are a commitment to hard work, the treatment of all persons with respect and dignity, and an unwavering dedication to equal justice under law. My family and I are also very excited by the prospect of being able to move back to northern Minnesota which we love and to become a part of the vibrant community of Duluth."

A press release announcing the appointment appears below.

United States District Court
District of Minnesota
Press Release

LEO I. BRISBOIS
APPOINTED U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE IN DULUTH

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (August 25, 2010) Chief U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Davis is pleased to announce the appointment of Leo I. Brisbois to the position of United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota. Davis notes the importance of this appointment: “The U.S. Magistrate Judge in Duluth serves a large area across northern Minnesota. Leo Brisbois was raised in Hibbing, and his family are also members of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe Indians. He is an experienced litigator and enjoys an outstanding reputation for maintaining the highest ethical standards and a commitment to public service, including his recent leadership as President of the Minnesota State Bar Association. The Bench is confident that Brisbois will bring to the courtroom the same leadership, respect for others and commitment to service which he has demonstrated throughout his career.” Brisbois will take the oath of office in the U.S. Courthouse in Minneapolis on August 30, and a formal ceremony will be held this fall in the Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building and United States Courthouse and Customhouse in Duluth.

Chief Judge Davis and his colleagues appointed an eleven member panel of attorneys and business professionals to advise the court on candidates. Stephanie Ball, Chair of the Merit Selection Panel, has this to say: “Leo Brisbois has a long-standing reputation for fairness and commitment to equal justice under law. We were pleased as a committee to recommend him as a finalist to the Bench.”

Brisbois, 48, was born in Aurora, Minnesota, and raised in Hibbing, Minnesota. He graduated from Hibbing High School, and received his undergraduate and law school degrees from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Since 1991, he has been with the Minneapolis law firm of Stich, Angell, Kreidler, Dodge & Unke, PA, where he is a partner, and prior to that, he served in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the United States Army for three years. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Minnesota State Bar Association, the Minnesota American Indian Bar Association, the 1st, 4th and Iron Range District Bar Associations, and he is a member of the Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association.

United States Magistrate Judges are appointed by the Judges of the U.S. District Court for a term of eight years, and are eligible for reappointment to successive terms. Brisbois will join Magistrate Judges Boylan, Mayeron, Graham and Keyes in St. Paul, Magistrate Judges Noel and Nelson in Minneapolis, and part-time Magistrate Judge Mary Kay Klein in Bemidji.