# Eric C. Tostrud *United States district judge in Minnesota; chief judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota* Eric Christian Tostrud (born 1965) is chief judge of the [[United States District Court for the District of Minnesota]]. He was commissioned to that court in 2018 and became its chief judge in 2026.[^1] This record names him as the judge assigned to *United States v. Minnesota Dept. of Education*, No. 0:26-cv-02078. The United States filed that [[Title IX]] action on March 30, 2026, against the [[Minnesota Department of Education]] and the [[Minnesota State High School League]].[^2] Before he became a judge, Tostrud spent 26 years at the law firm Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P., where nearly all of his litigation practice was in federal court.[^1] President Donald Trump nominated him in February 2018, and the Senate confirmed him by voice vote that September.[^1] ## Early life and education Tostrud is a native of [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]], and was born in 1965.[^1] He earned a Bachelor of Arts at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, in 1987. He completed his Juris Doctor at Saint Paul's William Mitchell College of Law in 1990.[^1] ## Career ### Clerkship After law school, Tostrud clerked for two federal judges. The first was [[Edward Devitt]] of the District of Minnesota, and the second was George MacKinnon of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[^1] ### Private practice At Lockridge Grindal Nauen, Tostrud was an associate from 1992 to 1997 and a partner from 1998 to 2014. He then remained of counsel until 2018.[^1] Over those 26 years his work centered on complex commercial litigation, almost all of it in federal court, with a focus on insurance law, health care law and ERISA.[^1] He holds a full-time faculty post at [[Mitchell Hamline School of Law]] as Distinguished Practitioner in Residence. There he teaches federal jurisdiction and federal procedural law.[^1] ### Federal judicial service On February 12, 2018, Trump announced that he intended to nominate Tostrud to a then-unspecified seat on the District of Minnesota. U.S. Representative Erik Paulsen had recommended him.[^1] The nomination reached the [[United States Senate]] on February 15, 2018. It was for the seat left open when Judge [[Donovan W. Frank]] took senior status on October 31, 2016.[^1] The Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on the nomination on April 11, 2018, and advanced it by voice vote on May 10.[^1] The full Senate confirmed Tostrud by voice vote on September 6, 2018, and he received his commission four days later, on September 10, 2018.[^1] He became the court's chief judge in 2026.[^1] In 2021, Tostrud appeared as a speaker at an event sponsored by the Federalist Society.[^1] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Tostrud is named as the judge in *United States v. Minnesota Dept. of Education*, No. 0:26-cv-02078.[^2] - The named defendants are the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League.[^2] ### What - The case is a Title IX action brought by the United States against the Minnesota Department of Education, and it is assigned to Tostrud.[^2] ### When - The United States filed the case on March 30, 2026.[^2] The record carries no later docket status for the matter.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Eric C. Tostrud* (retrieved 2026-10-26, revision 1363375912). Establishes birth, education, clerkships, private practice, faculty post, nomination, committee and confirmation votes, commission date, chief judgeship and the 2021 Federalist Society event. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_C._Tostrud [^2]: *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified, 2026-06-18), record passage [27] and June 18, 2026 densify note. Identifies *United States v. Minnesota Dept. of Education*, No. 0:26-cv-02078 (Title IX, filed March 30, 2026), as assigned to Judge Eric C. Tostrud. Quoted: "defendants the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League".