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About Paul
Lifelong Minnesotan
Paul was born and raised in Bloomington, Minnesota, the son of two public school educators. His dad, Frank, grew up on a farm in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, that the family still owns, and worked for the Saint Paul Public Schools as a teacher, counselor, and administrator. His mom, Barb, worked for many years as a special education teacher for the Richfield and Bloomington Public Schools.
After graduating from the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Minnesota, Thissen graduated from Harvard University in 1989. He earned a law degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1992 and then returned home to Minnesota. He and his wife Karen have three children – Emily, Griffin and Evan.
Legal Career
After graduation, Paul clerked for the Honorable James B. Loken of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He worked as an appellate public defender and at the Minneapolis law firm of Briggs & Morgan where he specialized in general litigation and appellate work. He represented some of Minnesota’s largest companies like Xcel Energy, government entities like the St. Paul Port Authority and many small entrepreneurs.
While at Briggs and Morgan, Paul served as chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. He pioneered new approaches for lawyers to serve the community, initiating partnerships with several local non-profits. The firm more than doubled the hours of free legal services it provided to low-income individuals and nonprofits. Paul founded “Access for Persons with Disabilities,” a group of lawyers dedicated to providing legal services to persons with disabilities. And, of course, Paul also represented lots of clients for free – individuals fleeing persecution in their home countries who sought asylum in the United States, victims of domestic abuse, people fighting to keep their family home. For a decade he worked with a team who ultimately succeeded in freeing an individual wrongfully sentenced to death row in Texas.
Thissen later worked as an attorney specializing in health care law at the Minneapolis office of the law firm of Ballard Spahr. In 2006, he was named one of “Forty Under 40” top business professionals in the Twin Cities by the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. In 2008, he was named one of the “Best Brains” in the Twin Cities by Mpls. St.Paul Magazine. In 2008 and 2012, Paul was recognized as one of the 100 Influential Minnesotans in Health Care by Physician Magazine.
Public Service
Paul served in the Minnesota House of Representatives for 16 years and served as Speaker of the Minnesota House from 2013 to 2015 – years that were among the most productive in a generation. He was laser-focused on delivering results for everyday Minnesotans and expanding and protecting all Minnesotan’s rights to live full, productive lives. The Washington Post named Paul an “Emerging Star Outside the Beltway” and the Star Tribune concluded that “Minnesota is once again a state that works.
Paul was named Legislator of the Year by Politics in Minnesota, the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, the Minnesota Nurses Association and ARC Minnesota among others. He received the Minnesota High Tech Association Public Service Award, the Standing Ovation Award from Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, and the Civic Leadership Award from the Citizen’s League.
Paul has been active in many community activities. He served on the boards of the Minnesota Justice Foundation, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Women of Nations domestic abuse shelter and other community organizations.
In April 2018, Governor Mark Dayton appointed Paul to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
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Minnesotans for Justice Paul Thissen