Elizabeth V. Cutter

Elizabeth Cutter has been a trial lawyer since 1980 and has a broad legal background. She provides experience-based conflict resolution through an efficient, timely, individually tailored, and confidential process.  Her practice is focused on assisting families resolve disputes in the areas of probate and family law as a consensual special master, parenting consultant, and mediator.

Experience

• University of Minnesota Law School, Adjunct Professor, Alternative Dispute Resolution

• Minnesota Family Law Appellate Mediation Program, Mediator

• Retired Hennepin County District Court Judge

  • Family Court 2019-2022

  • Presiding Judge, Probate/Mental Health Court 2016-2019

  • Assistant Presiding Judge, Criminal Court 2014-2016

• Presided over pretrials, court trials, and jury trials involving trusts, estates, guardianships, conservatorships, dissolutions (with and without children), maintenance, child support, and asset division, as well as criminal trials

• Senior Hennepin County Attorney, supervised a team of trial lawyers and handled a substantial caseload of adult felony offenses.

• Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Minnesota, represented the Departments of Human Rights, Human Services, and Trade and Economic Development in state and federal court as well as before the Office of Administrative Hearings.

• Appointed by Chief Justices Kathleen Blatz and Lori Gildea to the Rules of Evidence Committee

• Co-chair, Family Violence Coordinating Council

• Chair, Domestic Violence Steering Committee

• Member, Hennepin County’s Fatality Review Team

• Member, 4th Judicial District Education Committee

• Member, Minnesota Judicial Branch Education and Training Committee

• Frequent presenter at the Fall Judicial Conference for Minnesota District Court Judges

• Member, Minnesota Judicial Branch District Court Judges’ Domestic Violence Training Team responsible for training all new judges on matters relating to domestic violence and protective orders

• Extensive experience training judges, prosecutors, police, and advocates locally, nationally, and internationally on matters relating to gender-based violence

• Qualified Neutral under Rule 114

Education

• University of Minnesota (Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees)

• William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell-Hamline College of Law), cum laude, Editor, William Mitchell Law Review

Community Activities

• Minnesota State Bar Association (member of the Family Law and Probate & Trust sections)

• Hennepin County Bar Association (two six-year terms on the district ethics committee)

• Minnesota Women Lawyers (past president, current member of the Advisory Board and the Equity Committee)

• Past Board and Committee member of Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association

• Recipient of Volunteer of the Year from the Advocates for Human Rights