Jump to content

Patrick J. Schiltz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Patrick Joseph Schiltz
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
Assumed office
July 1, 2022
Preceded byJohn R. Tunheim
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
Assumed office
April 28, 2006
Appointed byGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byRichard H. Kyle
Personal details
Born
Patrick Joseph Schiltz

(1960-07-06) July 6, 1960 (age 64)
Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.
EducationCollege of St. Scholastica (BA)
Harvard University (JD)

Patrick Joseph Schiltz (born July 6, 1960) is an American lawyer who serves as the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Education and career

[edit]

Patrick J. Schiltz was born and raised in Duluth, Minnesota.[1] He graduated summa cum laude in 1981 from the College of St. Scholastica and magna cum laude in 1985 from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.[2] During the gap year between college and law school, Schiltz worked as a Legislative Aide to U.S. Senator Dave Durenberger (R-Minn).

After graduating from law school, Schiltz served as a law clerk to Antonin Scalia, who was then a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Schiltz had agreed to clerk for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the United States Supreme Court following his clerkship with Scalia. But shortly before Schiltz's clerkship with Scalia ended, Scalia was nominated to the United States Supreme Court. Scalia asked Schiltz to help prepare him for his confirmation hearings, and, after Scalia’s nomination was confirmed, Scalia asked Schiltz to clerk for him during his first year at the Supreme Court. With O’Connor’s permission, Schiltz agreed.[1]

Following his clerkship with Scalia, Schiltz joined Faegre & Benson in Minneapolis.[2] Schiltz represented the National Football League, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Minnesota Timberwolves in antitrust and contract law; the Star Tribune and other media clients in access and libel litigation; and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and other religious organizations in tort and employment matters.

Schiltz left private practice in 1995 to join the faculty of Notre Dame Law School, where he taught civil procedure, evidence, and sports law. While at Notre Dame, Schiltz wrote "On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession,"[3] one of the most widely read law-review articles ever published. The Vanderbilt Law Review made the article the focus of a symposium, and the Washington Post identified the article as one of nine works that every law student should read.[4]

In 2000, Schiltz left Notre Dame to become the founding associate dean of the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minnesota. Schiltz had primary responsibility for almost every significant aspect of creating the new law school, from hiring the faculty to designing the building. In 2002, Schiltz was named the St. Thomas More Chair in Law, the first endowed chair at the School of Law.[2]

From 1997 to 2006, Schiltz served as the Reporter to the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Among those who served on the Committee during Schiltz’s tenure were future Supreme Court Justices John G. Roberts, Jr. and Samuel A. Alito, Jr.[2]

Federal judicial service

[edit]

On December 14, 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Schiltz to serve on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota after Judge Richard H. Kyle assumed senior status. The Senate confirmed Schiltz's appointment on April 26, 2006, and he received his commission two days later.[1] He became chief judge on July 1, 2022.[5]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Patrick J. Schiltz at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  2. ^ a b c d "District Court judge to speak at commencement May 13". www.css.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  3. ^ Schiltz, Patrick J. (May 1999). "On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession". Vanderbilt Law Review. 52 (4): 871.
  4. ^ Krauss, Michael (2015-07-03). "Entering law school? Here's what to read this summer". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  5. ^ "District of MN Announces New Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz" (PDF) (Press release). United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. June 30, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
[edit]
Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
2006–present
Incumbent
Preceded by Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
2022–present