Bar Buzz: Dayton Klein replaces Fraser on Hennepin County bench

Julia Dayton Klein is Hennepin County’s new District Court judge. The governor’s office announced her appointment on April 28.

She will replace the retiring Judge Thomas S. Fraser and will chamber in Minneapolis.

“Ms. Dayton Klein has a wealth of public and private legal experience and is a proven leader,” Gov. Tim Walz said in a press release. “I look forward to her contributions to the cause of justice on and off the bench.”

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan called the new judge “compassionate, thoughtful and dedicated to giving back to our community.”

Dayton Klein is a partner and trial lawyer at Lathrop GPM, where she represents clients in asylum, election and voting rights cases, employment law, food safety and government investigations, among numerous other matters.

She also serves as the co-lead of her firm’s Women’s Initiative Network and is on the firm’s Culture, Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

She is a former Minnesota Department of Commerce general counsel, and an ex-associate at Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi and at Moss & Barnett.

Her community involvement includes work with the Advocates for Human Rights to investigate and curtail the spread of human trafficking in Minnesota.

Dayton Klein earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in finance and business economics from the University of Notre Dame. She earned her juris doctorate, cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame Law School.

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