ACS Minneapolis-St.Paul: “No One Succeeds Alone”: The Critical Importance of Role Models in Empowering Women of Color to Succeed in the Legal Field

Justice Anne McKeig is the first Native American to serve on the state’s highest court and the first Native woman to serve on the supreme court of any state. Her ascendance to the Supreme Court seemed unimaginable growing up in the northern Minnesota town of Federal Dam (pop. 106) on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation. A member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, she grew up in the small town with her mom and dad and four brothers.

Join the ACS Minneapolis-St. Paul, Arkansas, Bay Area, Chicago, DC, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia Lawyer Chapters, the St. Louis University School of Law, the University of North Dakota School of Law, and the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law ACS Student Chapters, the Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers, the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association, the Somali American Bar Association, and the Minnesota Women Lawyers, Inc. as we welcome Justice McKeig who will share her experience navigating the legal profession as a Native American woman and the importance of people of color engaging in the profession. She will talk about her life’s work to improve the lives of Native children and her efforts to bridge the gap between state and tribal courts/nations. A trailblazer in her own right, she will discuss her personal experience as an example of why representative mentoring structures are imperative for women of color within the legal community. 

Featuring:

Hon. Anne K. McKeig, Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court

Check out Justice McKeig's recent essay, "No One Succeeds Alone," here.

1.0 hour of California CLE credit is available for this event.

For reading materials click here, find the evaluation form, certificate of attendance, and record of attendance here. 

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Speaker bio:

Justice McKeig has committed over 25 years to serving Minnesota’s most vulnerable children and families in a number of capacities. As an assistant Hennepin County attorney and a Hennepin County District Court judge, she played a pivotal role in developing both state and national protocols and programs for child protection and Indian child welfare.

She attended St. Catherine University for her undergraduate degree, and received her law degree from Hamline University. She served as an assistant Hennepin County Attorney for 16 years, handling child protection cases and adoption matters with a specialty in cases that fall under the provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act. She then served as a district court judge in Hennepin County for almost 9 years before her nomination to the Minnesota Supreme Court. 

Justice McKeig is a member of the Speakers Bureau for the Zero Abuse Project, board member of Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome ("Proof'), Division of Indian Work, the Infinity Project, a trustee for St. Catherine University, and a member of the State/Tribal Court forum. She is also on several national committees addressing domestic violence, child abuse, and diversity.  

Justice McKeig co-authored law school curriculum entitled Child Abuse and the Law, which she currently teaches at St. Thomas School of Law as an Adjunct Professor. She has spoken at numerous national conferences and conventions regarding child protection, domestic violence, family law, diversity, inclusion, tribal communities, as well as a multitude of other topics. She is a proud mother of five and a Johnny Cash super fan.