# Lori Swanson *American lawyer and politician; Minnesota Attorney General, 2007–2019* Lori Swanson (born December 16, 1966) held the office of [[Attorney General of Minnesota]] for twelve years, from 2007 to 2019. She was the first woman elected to that office.[^1] Before that she worked inside the office: she was deputy attorney general and then solicitor general under [[Mike Hatch]], who held the office from 1999 to 2007. She succeeded him.[^2][^1] In 2018 Swanson sought the Democratic-Farmer-Labor nomination for [[Governor of Minnesota]], with U.S. Representative Rick Nolan as her running mate. She placed third in the primary.[^1] After leaving public office she and Hatch founded a law firm, Swanson|Hatch P.A.[^1][^4] The firm's own site states that it was founded in 2019, immediately after she left office.[^3] ## Early life and education Swanson was born on December 16, 1966.[^1] She took her bachelor's degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She then graduated magna cum laude with a J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law in Saint Paul.[^1] The project's claim rows link her legal credential to [[Mitchell Hamline School of Law]]. The same rows also link Warren Burger and Harry Blackmun to that institution.[^5] ## Early legal career During Hatch's tenure, Swanson was deputy attorney general in his first term and solicitor general in his second.[^1] She also served on the Consumer Advisory Council of the [[Federal Reserve]] Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. She was appointed a member in 2004, named vice-chair in 2005 and named chair in 2006.[^1] ## Attorney General of Minnesota Voters elected Swanson attorney general on November 7, 2006, and she was sworn in on January 2, 2007. She was the first woman to hold the office.[^1] She was also the first graduate of William Mitchell College of Law to serve as attorney general. Graduates of the [[University of Minnesota Law School]] had held the office continuously since 1929.[^1] In 2007 and 2008 her office sued several life insurers over annuities sold to senior citizens. The defendants included Allianz Life Insurance Company, American Equity Life Insurance Company, Midland National Life Insurance Company and American Investors Life Insurance.[^1] The suits argued that the companies were responsible for agents who sold long-term annuities carrying high surrender charges to elderly buyers.[^1] According to the Wikipedia account, the cases ended in settlements. These settlements provided for industry-wide reforms and refund offers to senior citizens worth hundreds of millions of dollars.[^1] Swanson testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging. She told the committee that insurers should require their sales agents to ensure a product is suitable before selling it.[^1] Swanson took office as a national housing crisis was beginning. The crisis was driven by predatory subprime mortgage lending.[^1] Before her swearing-in she announced a predatory lending working group to recommend mortgage-industry reforms to legislators. One of its recommendations was to end "no doc" mortgages, which are loans issued without proof that the borrower can repay. Many of its proposals were enacted into law.[^1] The Drum Major Institute of New York named her predatory-mortgage legislation one of the ten top public policies proposed in 2008.[^1] The record assembled for this article contains no primary filing, enactment text or settlement document for these actions. The account above rests on the Wikipedia article.[^1] ## Awards and honors In 2009 the national publication Lawyers USA named Swanson one of the "Top Ten Lawyers in America." In December 2012 Health Leaders Magazine listed her among 20 Americans making a difference in health care.[^1] The National Consumer Law Center gave her its Robert Drinan "Champion of Justice" award. The Department of Defense gave her its Pro Patria award for her work on behalf of armed service personnel.[^1] The Minnesota Nurses Association named her Public Official of the Year in 2010. In 2014 the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism gave her its Distinguished Service Award.[^1] ## Later career After leaving office, Swanson co-founded Swanson|Hatch P.A. with Hatch, her predecessor as attorney general.[^1][^2] The firm maintains a biography page for her.[^4] The firm's site states that it was founded in 2019, immediately after Swanson left office.[^3] The meeting record of the U.S. [[House Oversight]] Committee for September 10, 2019, includes a document titled *Biography of Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson*.[^6] ## Electoral history Swanson's electoral record includes the attorney-general elections of 2006, 2010 and 2014, which correspond to her three terms from 2007 to 2019.[^1] It also includes the 2018 Democratic-Farmer-Labor gubernatorial primary, in which she finished third.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lori Swanson* (revision 1375411417, retrieved 2026-10-25) — biography, offices held, lawsuits, working group, awards and the 2018 primary result. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lori_Swanson [^2]: Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, *Office History* — Mike Hatch served as Attorney General of Minnesota from 1999 to 2007. https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/AGHistory.asp [^3]: Swanson|Hatch P.A., *Swanson|Hatch P.A.* (firm website) — the firm states it was founded in 2019, immediately after Swanson left office. https://www.swansonhatch.com/ [^4]: Swanson|Hatch P.A., *Lori Swanson* (firm biography page) — Swanson's practice at Swanson|Hatch P.A. https://swansonhatch.com/lori_swanson [^5]: Mitchell Hamline School of Law, *Mitchell Hamline School of Law* (institutional website) — institution linked in the project's claim rows to the legal credentials of Swanson, Burger and Blackmun. https://mitchellhamline.edu/ [^6]: U.S. House Oversight Committee, *Biography of Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson* (September 10, 2019) — biography filed in the committee's meeting record for that date. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO28/20190910/109902/HHRG-116-GO28-Bio-SwansonL-20190910.pdf