Tanya M. Bishop ’03

Tanya M. Bishop is a public defender in Hennepin County on the Trial Team. Mrs. Bishop is a seasoned litigator with great passion for criminal law and civil rights. She has been a criminal defense attorney for over 20 years. She graduated from Hamline University School of Law in 2003. Bishop was published in Hamline Law Journal of Public Law and Policy and excelled on Hamline Law’s trial team. She was a founding member of the Innocence Project of Minnesota and continued to volunteer with other chapters throughout her career. She began her career at the Hennepin County Public Defender’s Office as a certified legal intern from 2002 to 2003. From 2003 to 2005, Ms. Bishop was an assistant public defender in the 13th Judicial Circuit of Florida. In 2005, she joined Cohen & DePaul in Tampa, where she continued to practice criminal law until 2008 when she opened her own law firm. She expanded her areas of practice to include not only criminal defense but appellate and post-conviction work as well as some family law matters.

She always had a desire to return to public defense work back in Minnesota where she graduated. In 2017, she moved back to the Minneapolis area and is now practicing as a public defender. Mrs. Bishop has taught at St. Cloud State University as part of the criminal justice program and has been an adjunct professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, teaching Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Constitutional Law: Liberties and Powers, and Professional Responsibility. Bishop has received the “Gotcha Award” in 2021 from the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers for uncovering untruths that an officer made in a search warrant. Bishop has been recognized in the Star Tribune regarding her advocacy and representation as a public defender. Bishop is licensed to practice law in Florida, and Minnesota at the state and federal level.

Teaching

Criminal Law: Statutory Interpretation, Constitutional Law; Civil Liberties, and Constitutional Law; Powers