Paul Thissen, '92: Sworn in to Minnesota Supreme Court
Former state Rep. Paul Thissen sworn in to Minnesota Supreme Court
Former state Rep. Paul Thissen donned a black robe and joined the Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday, the only former legislator among the justices currently serving on the state’s highest court.
Thissen, appointed earlier this year by Gov. Mark Dayton, said at his swearing-in ceremony that he’ll use that experience and time listening to residents across the state to guide his work in his new role.
“It is an honor to be joining all of you,” he told a crowd of judges at the ceremony. “This court sets a very high standard of collegiality and a willingness to work together that is really too rare these days.”
He’s the 95th associate justice named to the court and the only one to have served in the Legislature and on the court in the same calendar year. Thissen succeeds David Stras, who left the Minnesota court after being appointed to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by President Donald Trump.
Thissen, 51, graduated from Harvard University and the University of Chicago Law School. He then clerked for a member of the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and served as an appellate-level public defender before entering private practice. He was a shareholder at the Twin Cities firm Briggs and Morgan before joining Ballard Spahr (formerly Lindquist & Vennum) in Minneapolis.
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