Eric C. Tostrud
United States federal judge for the District of Minnesota
Eric Christian Tostrud (born 1965) is an American jurist serving as the chief judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.
Early life and education
Tostrud was born 1965 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1987 from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a Juris Doctor degree in 1990 from the William Mitchell College of Law in Saint Paul.
Career
Clerkship
After graduating from law school, Tostrud served as a law clerk to Judge Edward Devitt of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota and to Judge George MacKinnon of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Private practice
Tostrud worked in private practice at Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P., as an associate from 1992 to 1997, a partner from 1998 to 2014, and of counsel until 2018. During his 26 years at the firm, he maintained a complex commercial litigation practice almost exclusively in federal court, with emphasis in complex insurance law, health care law, and ERISA. Tostrud serves on the full-time faculty at Mitchell Hamline School of Law as the Distinguished Practitioner in Residence. He teaches federal jurisdiction and federal court procedural law.
Federal judicial service
On February 12, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Tostrud to an undetermined seat on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota after US Representative Erik Paulsen recommended Tostrud. On February 15, his nomination was sent to the United States Senate.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Eric C. Tostrud” is united States federal judge for the District of Minnesota. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Eric, Tostrud and United, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “united States federal judge for the District of Minnesota” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q48568419. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1965, 1987, 1990 and 1992.
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This entry incorporates text from “Eric C. Tostrud” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.