Eric John Magnuson is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lawyer in private practice. He was the Chief Justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...

 of the Minnesota Supreme Court

Minnesota Supreme Court

The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota and consists of seven members. The court was first assembled as a three-judge panel in 1849 when Minnesota was still a territory. The first members were lawyers from outside of the region who were appointed by...

 from 2008 to 2010.

Education and professional background

Magnuson was born in Morris, Illinois

Morris, Illinois

Morris is a city in Grundy County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,636 at the 2010 census.Morris is home to the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant, which provides a substantial portion of the electricity supply for the Chicago metropolitan area...

. He graduated from the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

 in Minneapolis

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

 in 1972, and from William Mitchell College of Law

William Mitchell College of Law

William Mitchell College of Law, or WMCL, is a private, independent law school located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Accredited by the American Bar Association , it offers full and part-time legal education in pursuit of the Juris Doctor degree....

 in Saint Paul

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

 in 1976. During his third year of law school, Magnuson
clerked for future state Chief Justice Douglas Amdahl, then a Hennepin County

Hennepin County, Minnesota

Hennepin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. As of 2010 the population was 1,152,425. Its county seat is Minneapolis. It is by far the most populous county in Minnesota; more than one in five Minnesotans live...

 district judge. The following year, he clerked for then-Chief Justice Robert Sheran

Robert Sheran

Robert J. Sheran was an American lawyer, politician and judge from Minnesota. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court by Governor Wendell Anderson, serving from December 1973 to December 1981. He previously served as an associate justice on the court from January 1963 to July...

.

Magnuson joined the Minneapolis law firm of Rider Bennett

Rider Bennett

Rider Bennett, LLP was a 47-year-old, Minneapolis-based law firm that closed in May 2007. It was founded by Stu Rider, Gene Bennett and Bill Egan, all three of whom had attended the University of Minnesota Law School together. They were later joined by Chet Johnson and Ed Arundel...

 in 1977. An appellate lawyer in the state and federal courts, he served as president of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers

American Academy of Appellate Lawyers

The American Academy of Appellate Lawyers is a non-profit organization consisting of the Fellows who have been elected to the Academy. It was founded in 1990. Its mission is to "advance the highest standards and practices of appellate advocacy and to recognize outstanding appellate lawyers."The...

 and founded the Eighth Circuit Bar Association. Governor Tim Pawlenty

Tim Pawlenty

Timothy James "Tim" Pawlenty , also known affectionately among supporters as T-Paw, is an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Minnesota . He was a Republican candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election from May to August 2011...

 chose him to chair the state Commission on Judicial Selection from 2003 to 2008. In 2007, after Rider Bennett dissolved, he joined the Minneapolis law firm of Briggs & Morgan.

Supreme Court term

On March 17, 2008, Governor Pawlenty appointed Magnuson Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court to succeed the retiring Russell A. Anderson

Russell A. Anderson

Russell A. Anderson is an attorney and former Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. He served as an Associate Justice of the court from September 1, 1998 until he was sworn in as Chief Justice on January 10, 2006. He retired from the Supreme Court on June 1, 2008, at age 66, and was...

. He was sworn in on June 2, 2008.

Magnuson served on the State Canvassing Board for the United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2008

United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2008

The 2008 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 4, 2008. After a legal battle lasting over eight months, Al Franken from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party defeated Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in one of the closest elections in the history of the Senate...

.

On March 11, 2010, Magnuson announced that he will be stepping down as chief justice on June 30, 2010, returning to the private practice of law. In his resignation letter to the governor, he cited "reasons personal to me and my family."

On May 5, 2010, Magnuson authored a 4-3 decision of the Minnesota Supreme Court, ruling that Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty had overstepped his authority by rescinding funding passed by the Minnesota legislature. The ruling was notable in that Pawlenty was Magnuson's former law partner.