At MJF’s 2024 Annual Awards Celebration, we will celebrate pro bono and public service in Minnesota’s legal community. Judge Sarah I. Wheelock will be our keynote speaker. We will recognize the recipients of our six Outstanding Service Awards at the event:

Advocate Award: Jenna Saverynski, Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services
Direct Legal Service Award: Sarah K. Moore, Legal Services of Northwest Minnesota
Private Practice Lawyer Award: Clinton E. Cutler, Fredrikson & Byron P.A. and the University of Minnesota Law School’s Bankruptcy Clinic

Plunkett Christenson Law Student Volunteer Awards:
Benna J. Griffin, Mitchell Hamline School of Law
Lizzy Cavanaugh, University of St. Thomas School of Law
Haley Van Steenbergh, University of Minnesota Law School

photo of Keynote Speaker Judge Sarah I. Wheelock — Judge Sarah I. Wheelock

The Honorable Sarah I. Wheelock is a judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals. She previously worked as legal counsel for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, an Adjunct Professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, as an Appellate Judge for the White Earth Band of Chippewa Court of Appeals, and in private practice with law firms. Her experience includes litigation in tribal, federal, and state courts, as well as economic development and finance work. Judge Wheelock is a member of the Meskwaki Nation (federally recognized as the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa) and is the first Indigenous person to sit on the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Judge Wheelock is a member and past Vice President of the Minnesota American Indian Bar Association, member of the National Native American Bar Association, and member of the Federal Bar Association. She previously served as a member of the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection. Her community involvement includes serving as a director on the board for the Division of Indian Work, an assistant director of Twin Cities Native Lacrosse, and as the past-chair of the American Indian Parent Advisory Committee for the Prior Lake-Savage Area School District. Judge Wheelock earned her B.A. with honors and distinction and J.D. with distinction from the University of Iowa.