For the first time in decades, someone who is not already sitting on the Minnesota Supreme Court will step into the court's top job.
Described as a "lawyer's lawyer," Eric Magnuson, 57, was named the court's chief justice on Monday by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
The appointment consolidates Pawlenty's imprint on the high court, giving his choices a majority, including a chief justice who has headed Pawlenty's judicial selection board.
A well-known figure in legal circles, Magnuson is an attorney and shareholder at Briggs and Morgan in Minneapolis, specializing in appellate law.
Magnuson was previously a partner and 30-year attorney at the Rider Bennett firm before it disbanded last year. Pawlenty once toiled there as a young associate. The two were later partners in the firm together.
An expert in appellate law, Magnuson has written several texts on the subject. "He is one of the most respected appellate lawyers in the country," the governor said, and the most distinguished in Minnesota. "I am pleased that he has set aside his private life for a while to serve."
Tall and imposing, with a slightly graying goatee, Magnuson said he was at a "loss for words" and found the appointment "truly humbling."
His appointment marks the first time since the 1930s that someone other than a current or former Supreme Court associate justice has been named to the top post.