Full Name: Edward Toussaint, Jr.
Year of Induction: 2015
Ed Toussaint was appointed Chief Judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals in 1995. A respected member of the Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal, he served on the Executive Committee, helped members deal with cutting edge issues of new technology, and became the Council’s president in 1999. He also arranged the archiving of Council records regarding its formation in 1980.
A graduate of Chicago State University, he became a public school teacher then earned his law degree from DePaul University Law School . After serving as counsel for an insurance company, he became a Workers’ Compensation Judge, then a District Court Judge prior to his appointment to the Court of Appeals. He also had leadership positions in the Minnesota and American Bar Associations. He left the bench in 2011 under the mandatory retirement law and became Distinguished Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Multicultural Affairs at William Mitchell College of Law. In 2012, he received the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Advocate of the Year Award for his significant contribution to improving the system of civil justice in Minnesota.