FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 18, 2022
Contact: Claire Lancaster
claire.lancaster@state.mn.us
651-219-2975
Commission on Judicial Selection Recommends Fourth Judicial District Candidates to Governor Walz
[ST. PAUL, MN] – The Commission on Judicial Selection announced today that it is recommending three candidates for consideration to fill a vacancy in Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District. The vacancy will occur upon the retirement of the Honorable David L. Piper. The seat will be chambered in Minneapolis in Hennepin County.
Sarah Hudleston: Sarah Hudleston is an assistant United States attorney in the Violent and Major Crimes section at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. In this role, she prosecutes a range of felonies, including child exploitation, bank fraud, kidnapping, armed robbery, firearms, narcotics, and government program fraud offenses. Hudleston was previously a law clerk to the Honorable Ann D. Montgomery and an attorney at Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson. Her community involvement includes serving as a volunteer for the U.S. District Court’s Open Doors program, a mentor for students in the University of St. Thomas School of Law Mentor Externship program, a volunteer with the Innocence Project, and a former board member of the Volunteer Lawyers Network. Hudleston is a two-time recipient of Tubman’s Attorney of the Year Award for her pro bono representation of domestic violence victims and indigent family law clients.
Kristen Marttila: Kristen Marttila is a partner at Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP, where her practice focuses on prosecuting complex antitrust and other consumer-oriented class actions. She is the chair of the firm’s pro bono committee, and her own pro bono practice has included civil rights, environmental, criminal appeals, and criminal expungement cases. Marttila was previously a law clerk for Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz and Judge Eric C. Tostrud on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. She was also an attorney at Faegre & Benson LLP, where she handled environmental and land use matters. Her community involvement includes serving on the Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws and the Federal Bar Association's Federal Judicial Law Clerk Committee. She also volunteers in Minneapolis Public Schools as a classroom assistant, a Welcoming Equity Committee member, and a reader through the Reader/Writer program.
Sydnee Woods: Sydnee Woods is general counsel for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. In this role, she provides legal and policy analysis, risk assessment, and litigation management for the agency, which includes the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Minnesota State Patrol, Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and the State Fire Marshal. Woods was previously an attorney for the City of Minneapolis, Ramsey County, and the Metropolitan Council. She was also a law clerk to Judge Edward Toussaint, Jr. on the Minnesota Court of Appeals and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School and Mitchell Hamline School of Law. Her community involvement includes volunteering with the University of St. Thomas School of Law Mentor Externship program, Minnesota Women Lawyers’ Student to Attorney Mentoring program, U.S. District Court’s Open Doors program, and Everybody Wins reading program. Woods is a member of Minnesota Women Lawyers, the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
For more information about the judicial selection process, please visit the Governor’s Judicial Appointments webpage.
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