Behind the Scenes at the Minnesota Supreme Court

December 1, 2021: David Lillehaug, former Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, grew up in Sioux Falls, went to Augustana College, and graduated from Harvard Law School with honors in 1979. After clerking for a federal district court judge in Minneapolis, he was a litigator in private practice for about 25 years. His clients included Fortune 100 companies, Minnesota’s governor, 3 U.S. Senators, the U of M, the City of St. Paul, and tribal nations. In 2009, David tried and won a seven-week U.S. Senate election trial.

From 1994 to 1998, David was the United States Attorney for Minnesota, the federal government’s chief prosecutor and civil lawyer in the state. Apropos of recent events, his office worked closely with federal, state and local law enforcement and social services agencies to bring an end to what we then knew as “Murderapolis.”

In 2013, David was appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court, where he served for 7 years. Justice Lillehaug sat on more than 600 cases and wrote over 140 opinions.