FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 6, 2023
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 five candidates for consideration to fill two
vacancies in Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District. These vacancies
occurred upon the resignation of the Honorable Nicole A. Engisch and
retirement of the Honorable M. Jacqueline Regis. These seats will be
chambered in Minneapolis in Hennepin County.
Dean Eyler:
Dean Eyler is a partner at Lathrop GPM, where his practice focuses on
litigating complex commercial and intellectual property disputes. He
also is the firm’s pro bono partner and chair of the Trademark Law
Committee. He was previously a judicial law clerk for the Honorable
Donald P. Lay on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and an associate
attorney at Dorsey & Whitney. His community involvement includes
serving on the boards of the Advocates for Human Rights and Minnesota
Urban Debate League. Eyler also volunteers with the Volunteer Lawyers
Network and provides pro bono representation to parties seeking asylum
before the asylum office and immigration court. He helped create a
fellows program for high-school debaters and is a former Edina High
School debate coach.
Matthew Frank:
Matthew Frank is the managing attorney of the Criminal Division at the
Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, where he supervises a team of
attorneys who handle criminal prosecutions, criminal appeals, civil
commitments, civil matters regarding the predatory offender registration
statute, and community notification risk level appeals. He previously
worked as an assistant county attorney in the Wright County Attorney’s
Office, an assistant public defender in the Tenth Judicial District
Public Defender’s Office, an attorney in the Taylor Law Firm, and a
judicial law clerk to the Honorable Allen Oleisky of the Fourth Judicial
District. Frank’s community involvement includes serving on the
Minnesota Supreme Court Advisory Committees on the Rules of Criminal
Procedure and the Special Rules of Procedure Governing Proceedings Under
the Minnesota Commitment and Treatment Acts, the Minnesota County
Attorneys Association Appellate Committee, and the Minnesota Child
Mortality Review Panel. He also has volunteered as a brief and oral
argument judge for the William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court
Competition.
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.
Mariam Mokri:
Mariam Mokri is a district court referee in the Civil and Criminal
Divisions of the Fourth Judicial District, presiding over housing,
harassment, and petty misdemeanor cases. She previously worked as a
human services judge at the Minnesota Department of Human Services and
as an assistant public defender in the Fourth Judicial District Public
Defender’s Office. Mokri’s community involvement has included service as
the chair of the Minneapolis Commission on Civil Rights and a member of
the Minnesota Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers board of
directors.
Sarah Walter:
Sarah Walter is an assistant county attorney in the Adult Services
Division of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. She has also handled
child protection cases, primarily cases that are subject to the Indian
Child Welfare Act. Walter was previously an assistant public defender in
the Fourth Judicial District Public Defender’s Office. She is an
adjunct professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, where she teaches
trial advocacy. Walter’s community involvement includes volunteering
with Loaves and Fishes of Minneapolis.
For more information about the judicial selection process, please visit the Governor’s Judicial Appointments webpage.
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