About Judge Schmidt

Before being appointed to the bench, Judge Schmidt was a principal attorney at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office where he handled and supervised the criminal appellate team. Before that, Judge Schmidt was a shareholder at Briggs and Morgan (now the Taft law firm) where he handled complex civil litigation and appeals. Judge Schmidt started his legal career working as a law clerk for Judge Myron Bright on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and as a law clerk to then-Judge Natalie Hudson on the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Judge Schmidt is a past chair of the MSBA Appellate Section and established a pro bono program in which private attorneys represent indigent clients on behalf of the Minnesota Public Defenders’ Office. He has worked on and handled hundreds of criminal and civil appeals before the Minnesota Court of Appeals, the Minnesota Supreme Court, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Supreme Court, and various state and federal appellate courts throughout the country.

Judge Schmidt earned his B.A. from the University of Minnesota and his J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the law review. He lives in St. Paul with his wife, Ramsey County District Court Judge Sara Grewing, two kids, and their adopted British Bulldog (“Babycakes”).