Minnesota Lawyer Blog

I think the Star Tribune's editorial today ("Minnesotans deserve better from AG's office") provides a pretty good assessment of the situation at the office of Attorney General Lori Swanson.

Here are a few of the money quotes:

• "When this office is in turmoil, as it has been for some time,
  Minnesotans should pay attention";
• "The findings [of the Office of the Legislative Auditor] are not
  the exoneration that Swanson's office portrays them to be. If anything, they
  reinforce that the situation bears scrutiny."
• "Although Swanson may not have crossed legal lines, Nobles' report gives
  good reason to doubt that she and her predecessor, Mike Hatch, have been the
  best possible stewards of that asset."
• "Swanson is a smart attorney and hard worker. But the state's top legal
  job also requires her to be something more: a good manager. It's a different
  skill set than that which has carried Swanson far in her career. But it's
  something she can -- and must -- learn."
  

Thanks to those of you who brought this important issue to the public's attention. It is highly unfortunate that the badly needed scrutiny came only at great personal and professional cost to the young assistant AG involved, Amy Lawler.