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Denise
Reilly
Originally published in
the February 1998 issue.
Author: Thorwald Anderson
Judge
Reilly’s personal life is as varied as her professional
career. She lived with her family in Japan during her high
school years and graduated from high school there. Her
undergraduate degree was earned at the College of Wooster in
Wooster Ohio, where she met her future husband, Kevin. She then
graduate cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law.
While in law school she received two American Jurisprudence
Awards given to the top student in particular courses.
She is
the mother of two teenage sons and, in addition to taking an
active interest in their activities, has managed to participate
in numerous community and civic activities. Judge Reilly serves
on the professional advisory board of the Epilepsy Foundation
and is a member of the vestry of her church. She also is a mock
trial coach at Orono High School.
This
author knew our new judge for eight years at the U.S. Attorney’s
Office and everyone there was amazed at her energy, enthusiasm,
and cheerful presence. It seemed that she always had a high
school class under her wing touring the courthouse. Her own busy
schedule never seemed to limit her ability to tackle some
community or extracurricular professional task. Judge Reilly was
an able and a willing teacher, leading classes over the entire
state dealing with law enforcement subjects.
Denise
Reilly’s most endearing quality is the ability to take her job
and profession seriously without taking herself seriously. For
example, rather than decorating her office with every diploma
and award ever written in the Latin language, Judge Reilly has
in her chamber her kindergarten diploma and a photograph of her
sixth-grade graduating class. It is a gentle and polite put-down
to those of us who wear a cowboy hat but have no cattle.
Judge
Reilly is all substance without puffery or pretense. She will
devastate the unprepared; reach out a helping hand to the new,
inexperienced, and nervous lawyer; cheerfully and graciously
learn from the prepared lawyer; and honor all.
The
citizens and lawyers of Hennepin County are going to be well
served by our new judge. Years in the future all will agree that
she matched the high standards set by her predecessor.
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