Hon. John Guthmann

Hon. John Guthmann is a Second District (Ramsey County) judge. He graduated from Cornell College in 1976 with a double major in history and political science. He received his JD from Mitchell Hamline College of Law in 1980. In law school, he was Editor-in-Chief of the Mitchell Hamline Law Review. He clerked for Hennepin County District Court Judge Harold Kalina and Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Sheran. Judge Guthmann practiced for 27 years with the Hansen Dordell law firm. In 2003-04 he served as President of the Ramsey County Bar Association. In addition to teaching at the U of M Law School and at Mitchell Hamline, Judge Guthmann writes and lectures frequently. After his appointment in 2008, Judge Guthmann served three years in the Criminal Division, five years in the Civil Division, and eight years as a Mental Health Court Judge. The Chief Justice appointed him to serve as Presiding Judge for Minnesota’s Asbestos Litigation from 2014-2020. He was elected Chief Judge in 2016, serving in that role and as a member of Minnesota’s Judicial Council until 2020. In 2020, the Chief Justice appointed him to be the only judge on the Minnesota Jury Trial Re-Start Small Group, which reviewed each county's plan to re-start jury trials following the COVID-19 shut-down. Judge Guthmann is presently assigned to his district’s Criminal Division, he is a member of the Civil JIG Committee, and he is on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota District Judges Foundation.