Hon. Colette Routel

Colette Routel is a Judge in Minnesota's Fourth Judicial District (Hennepin County). Prior to her appointment in 2021, Judge Routel was a law professor for 14 years. Her teaching and scholarship focused on Federal Indian Law, Natural Resources Law, and Property Law. Professor Routel also created and taught several clinics, including the Indian Law Impact Litigation Clinic, which represented Tribes in federal court litigation. The Clinic focused on protecting Ojibwe treaty rights in the Midwest and submitting amicus briefs to the United States Supreme Court in cases involving tribal sovereignty. Prior to becoming a state court judge, Judge Routel also served as an appellate judge for the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, as well as a pro tem Judge for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) Community. She also worked at the law firm now known as Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, and the Indian law boutique firms known as the Jacobson Law Group and Hogen Adams. Judge Routel graduated from the University of Michigan Law School magna cum laude. She was elected to the Order of the Coif and served on the Michigan Law Review.