The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed Eric Tostrud ’90 (WMCL) as a Minnesota federal judge. In February Tostrud, a distinguished practitioner in residence at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. Tostrud’s confirmation comes a few days after the Senate confirmed Hennepin County Judge Nancy Brasel to the federal bench in Minnesota.
In 1990, Tostrud earned his J.D. summa cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law. He served as a law clerk to Judge George E. MacKinnon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and to Judge Edward J. Devitt of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
In 1992, Tostrud began work as an attorney with the Minneapolis firm Lockridge Grindal Nauen, where he maintained a complex commercial litigation practice almost exclusively in federal court, with emphasis in complex insurance coverage, health care litigation, and ERISA.
“We are proud and thrilled. Eric will be an outstanding judge on the federal bench,” partner Dick Lockridge said Thursday on behalf of the firm.
Tostrud joined the Mitchell Hamline faculty as a distinguished practitioner in residence in 2015.
“The entire Mitchell Hamline community congratulates our alum and distinguished faculty member Eric Tostrud on his confirmation,” said Mitchell Hamline president and dean Mark Gordon. “We are honored that our students have been able to benefit from his deep knowledge of the law, and we appreciate his enduring commitment to service and the rule of law.”
After Tostrud’s nomination passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in May, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar pushed for her colleagues to approve his confirmation, saying he and Judge Brasel were “highly respected” in Minnesota and their “extensive legal experience” made both well-qualified candidates for the federal bench.
U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen said Thursday on Twitter that Tostrud’s legal experience “will make him an outstanding addition” to the Minnesota federal bench and called Tostrud a “man of deep integrity and keen intellect.”