For immediate release: Contact: John Wodele Thursday, March 18, 1999 651-296-0001 John Hultquist 651-296-0019

GOVERNOR VENTURA APPOINTS PETERSON TO FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT BENCH

(St. Paul, MN) - Governor Jesse Ventura today announced the appointment of Bruce Peterson to the Fourth Judicial District trial bench vacancy in Hennepin County which occurred with the resignation of the Honorable John M. Stanoch on January 5, 1999.

Peterson, Minneapolis, has been an associate attorney and partner with the Minneapolis law firm of Popham, Haik, Schnobrich and Kaufman, and its successor, Hinshaw and Culbertson, from January 1987 to the present. He was an assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1980 to 1986, a special assistant to the deputy assistant United States Attorney General from 1979 to 1980 and a law clerk to former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Sheran from 1978 to 1979. Peterson earned his juris doctorate degree from Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut in 1978 and his bachelor of arts degree magna cum laude from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in 1972.

Governor Ventura said, "Bruce is an experienced trial attorney who has earned a reputation as fair and respectful of others. He is known in the community as a compassionate and understanding person. I am proud to name him as my first district court appointment."

In addition to his trial work, Peterson is a legal advisor to Minneapolis Way to Grow, which serves about 1,000 at-risk families with small children. He is also Hinshaw and Culbertson's pro-bono committee chair, and a member of the Douglas K. Amdahl Inn of Court, where he is currently on the executive committee. Peterson, 47, was born in Duluth, raised in Albert Lea and currently resides in Minneapolis with his wife, Elissa and daughter, Emma.

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