Saint Paul – Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced that he has accepted the recommendations of the Commission on Judicial Selection for four trial court bench vacancies in the Fourth Judicial District in Hennepin County.

Three vacancies will occur with the resignations of the Honorable Heidi S. Schellhas and the Honorable Francis J. Connolly, who have accepted appointments to the Court of Appeals, and the retirement of the Honorable Harry Seymour Crump. The effective date of Judges Schellhas and Connolly’s resignations and Judge Crump’s retirement is December 31, 2007. The fourth vacancy will occur with the retirement of the Honorable Allen Oleisky on March 31, 2008.

The finalists are Tamara G. Garcia, Geoffrey Isaacman, Fred Karasov, Frank J. Magill, Jr., Anne K. McKeig, Laurie J. Miller, James A. Moore, Thomas M. Sipkins, and Gloria Stamps-Smith.

Garcia, of Eden Prairie, has been a self-employed attorney in private practice since 2000; a judicial hearing examiner with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Shakopee since 1995; a judicial hearing examiner with AMERIND Risk Management Corporation in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico since 2007; and a director with the State Fund Mutual Insurance Company in Bloomington since 2000. Previously, she was an associate attorney and partner with the Pustorino, Pederson, Tilton and Parrington law firm in Edina from 1989 to 2000, and a staff attorney with the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals in St. Paul from 1987 to 1989. Garcia earned her juris doctorate degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1986, and her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1983.

Isaacman, of Minneapolis, is an assistant public defender in the Fourth Judicial District Public Defender’s office in Hennepin County, a position he has held since 1996. Isaacman earned his juris doctorate degree cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1996, and his bachelor of arts degree cum laude from Carleton College in Northfield in 1992.

Karasov, of Minneapolis, is the senior attorney in the violent crimes division of the Hennepin County Attorney’s office, and has been an attorney in the Hennepin County Attorney’s office since 1983. He is also a military judge with the Minnesota Army National Guard, a position he has held since 2000, and was a staff judge advocate with the National Guard from 1988 to 2000. Prior to earning his law degree, Karasov was a senior deputy Hennepin County Sheriff from 1978 to 1982. Karasov earned his juris doctorate degree cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1982, his master of science degree from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts in 1978, and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1976.

Magill, of St. Louis Park, is the first assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Minnesota, a position he has held since June. He has been an assistant U. S. Attorney since 1990, serving as the economic crimes chief from 1998 to June 2007. Previously, he was a civil litigation associate attorney with the Dorsey and Whitney law firm in Minneapolis from 1985 to 1990. Magill earned his juris doctorate degree magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. in1985, and his bachelor of science degree from Georgetown in 1981.

McKeig, of Brooklyn Park, is an assistant county attorney in the Hennepin County Attorney’s office in Minneapolis, a position she has held since 1992. McKeig earned her juris doctorate degree from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul in 1992, and her bachelor of arts degree from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul in 1989.

Miller, of Edina, is an attorney and shareholder with the Fredrikson and Byron law firm in Minneapolis. She has been an attorney with the firm since 1989. Previously, she was an attorney with the Dunlap and Seeger (then known as Dunlap, Keith, Finseth, Berndt and Sandberg) law firm in Rochester from 1986 to 1989, an attorney with the Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe law firm in San Francisco, California from 1983 to 1986, and a law clerk to U.S. Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit Judges Myron H. Bright and Richard S. Arnold in St. Louis, Missouri from 1981 to 1983. Miller earned her juris doctorate degree from Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1981, and her bachelor of arts degree from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California in 1978.

Moore, of Plymouth, is an assistant Minneapolis City Attorney, a position he has held since 1990. He was an assistant Bloomington City Attorney from 1986 through 1989, and an associate attorney with Robert J. Steigauf in 1986. Moore earned his juris doctorate degree cum laude from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul in 1985, and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1981.

Sipkins, of Edina, is an attorney and partner in the Minneapolis law firm of Maslon, Edelman, Borman, and Brand, a position he has held since 2004. Previously, he was an attorney and shareholder with Halleland Lewis, Nilan, Sipkins and Johnson in Minneapolis from 1996 to 2004, an attorney and shareholder with Popham, Haik, Schnobrich, Kaufman and Doty in Minneapolis from 1986 to 1996, an attorney and partner with Peterson, Popovich, Knutson and Flynn in St. Paul from 1977 to 1986, a city of St. Paul staff attorney from 1975 to 1977, and a staff attorney with the United States Renegotiation Board in Washington D.C. from 1973 to 1975.  Sipkins earned his juris doctorate degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1973, and his bachelor or arts degree from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 1969.

Stamps-Smith, of Plymouth, has been an assistant Hennepin County Attorney since 1995. She was a disciplinary counsel with the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Tennessee Supreme Court in Nashville from 1990 to 1995, and an assistant Minneapolis City Attorney from 1985 to 1989. Stamps-Smith earned her juris doctorate degree from the University of Iowa Law School in Iowa City in 1984, and her bachelor of arts degree cum laude from Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi in 1981.

The Commission on Judicial Selection screens judicial candidates and makes recommendations to the Governor for district court vacancies that occur during the term of a judge. The commission consists of 13 members: nine at-large members and four members from the judicial district. The commission members include attorneys and non-attorneys appointed by the Governor and the Minnesota Supreme Court. The commission received 55 applications for these four judicial vacancies.