Firsts in state history
Law Degree
- First Somali American male: [1] Hassan Ali Mohamud in 2002
Lawyers
- Jacob Jackson Noah (1851): [2] First Jewish American male lawyer in Minnesota
- Fredrick McGhee (1889): [3] First African American male lawyer in Minnesota
State judges
- Charles Bechhoefer: [4] First Jewish American male judge in Minnesota (1923)
- L. Howard Bennett: [5] First African American male judge in Minnesota (1957)
- Stephen L. Maxwell (1953): [6] First African American male to serve as a district court judge in Minnesota (1968)
- Alberto Miera, Jr.: [7] [8] First Hispanic American male judge in Minnesota (1983)
- Alan Page (1978): [9] First African American male to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court (1993)
- Tony N. Leung: [10] [11] [12] First Asian American male judge in Minnesota (1994)
- Robert A. Blaeser (1979): [13] [14] First Native American (Anishinaabe from the White Earth Band of Ojibwe) male judge in Minnesota (1995) [15]
- Edward Toussaint: [16] First African American male to serve on the Minnesota Court of Appeals (1995)
- David Stras: [17] First Jewish American male to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court (2010)
- Peter Reyes Jr. (1997): [9] First Hispanic American male to serve on the Minnesota Court of Appeals (2014)
- David Stras: [17] First Jewish American male to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court (2010)
- Leonardo Castro: [18] First Hispanic American male to serve as a chief judge in a judicial district in Minnesota (2020)
- Karl Procaccini: [19] First Muslim American male to serve as a Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court (2023)
Federal judges
- Michael J. Davis (1972): [20] First African American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota (1994) and its Chief Judge (2008)
- Leo Brisbois: [21] First Native American male to serve as a U.S. Magistrate judge in Minnesota (2010)
- Tony N. Leung: [10] [11] [12] First Asian American male to become a federal court judge in Minnesota (2011)
- Jeffrey Bryan: [22] First Latino American male federal judge in Minnesota (2023)
Attorney General
- Keith Ellison (1990): [23] [24] First African American (and first Muslim) to become Attorney General of Minnesota (2018)
United States Attorney
- B. Todd Jones: [25] First African American male to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota (2009)
Assistant United States Attorney
- Donald M. Lewis: [26] First African American male to serve as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota (1982-1988)
County Attorney
Public Defender
- Daniel Lew: [32] First Asian American male to serve as a Chief Public Defender in Minnesota (2014)
Political Office
- Keith Ellison (1990): [23] [24] First African American male (and first Muslim) elected to the U.S. Congress from Minnesota (2006)
Bar Association
- Jarvis Jones: [33] First African American to serve as the President of the Minnesota State Bar Association (c. 2001) [34]
- Leo Brisbois: [35] First male of American Indian descent to serve as the President of the Minnesota State Bar Association (2009)
- Phil Duran: [36] First openly LGBT male to serve as the President of the Minnesota State Bar Association (2013)