South St. Paul’s Tom Pugh prepares to become the 1st Judicial District’s newest judge [Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.]

Dec. 28--As a boy, Tom Pugh imagined himself as a judge someday.

His sixth-grade teacher first nudged him toward a career in law, said Pugh, 62, a lifelong South St. Paul resident. He got his first glimpse inside a law firm when his godmother's husband, a lawyer who later became a judge, brought him to work.

"I was just impressed with all of the law books," Pugh recalled. "I grew up in a town where most of the work was manual labor. It was a different world to step into where people were not working manually. They were reading books. It was the first time I'd ever been in a setting like that."

The firm would later become Pugh's longtime employer.

When a judicial seat opened this year in his home district, Pugh said, he realized his 35 years as a lawyer, 15 years as a Democratic lawmaker and seven years serving on the Public Utilities Commission had prepared him.

Pugh, whom his friends call "tough as nails," went after the job.

Last month, Gov. Mark Dayton selected the former Minnesota House minority leader for the <location>1st District seat, which encompasses seven counties, including Dakota. Pugh has been shadowing judges this month. On Thursday, he will be sworn into the role, replacing retired Judge Thomas Poch.

"This is something I've grown up with -- an attraction to the legal process," Pugh said. "It dawned on me that every step I've taken prepared me to be ready for this job."

Pugh's judicial appointment is Dayton's second for the 1st District. In June,

former criminal defense attorney Arlene Asencio Perkkio was chosen. Perkkio replaced Judge Robert Carolan after his retirement.

This year, 22 district judges have left the bench throughout the state, said Kyle Christopherson, spokesman for the Minnesota court administrator's office. Sixteen were retirements. It's the largest change of judges since 2006.

Courts are seeing a wave of retirements, most likely from a group of judges who filled new positions approved by the Minnesota Legislature in the late 1980s and early '90s to help with an increasing workload, said 1st District Chief Judge Edward Lynch.

Those judges are likely reaching retirement age, Lynch said.

But "new judges bring fresh perspectives, enthusiasm and energy," he said.

As the courts continue adding innovative technologies to improve service and efficiency, the new judges tend to be more comfortable with those changes, he added.

GROWING UP IN SOUTH ST. PAUL

Pugh was born and raised amid South St. Paul's historic meatpacking industry. His ties began with his maternal grandfather, who moved to South St. Paul in the late 1920s, and his maternal grandmother, who was born in South St. Paul before that.

His family worked at the Swift and Armour

packing plants and on the railroad.

Pugh was a popular South St. Paul High School student known for his defensive skills in the hockey rink and his humor in his newspaper sports column, "Pugh's Views," said Bob Milbert, a former South St. Paul state representative and longtime friend of Pugh's.

"He was a terrific student and very well-liked," Milbert said.

The two graduated from high school in 1967 and went on to Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., where they were recruited to play hockey. It was the first time Pugh and Milbert -- or anyone in their families -- had ever flown in a commercial airplane, said Milbert, 62.

Pugh graduated cum laude in 1971 with a degree in political science.

But college proved to be more than just schoolwork for Pugh. On the rural campus with New Hampshire's mountains as a backdrop, Pugh met and fell in love with his future wife, Susan, a Boston native who attended nearby Colby-Sawyer College.

She said she coaxed Milbert into arranging a blind date with Pugh, then 20.

"I knew that night he was the one," Susan Pugh recalled.

The couple married in 1971 and moved to the Midwest, where Pugh began law school at the University of Minnesota. They have two children: Aimee, 39, a college professor, and Doug, 31, a Marine Corps captain.

Pugh graduated from law school in 1976, joining the firm today known as Rogosheske, Sieben, Atkins & Pugh LLC in South St. Paul, one of the oldest law firms in Dakota County.

Pugh took a variety of cases there, including representing the South St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority, local banks and the city's school district. In Dakota County, he served as a public defender and was appointed to child-in-need-of-protection cases.

About five years ago, Pugh transitioned to a role "of counsel" at the firm. He represents longtime clients when requested.

PUBLIC SERVICE YEARS

Pugh's expertise in government became evident in college, Milbert said. In 1975, Pugh got his first taste of politics as Milbert's campaign manager for South St. Paul City Council. Milbert won.

The pair ran for the Legislature in 1986 -- in South St. Paul districts. Milbert vied for an open seat, and Pugh fought incumbent Bert McKasy. Pugh lost but prevailed two years later.

"He's a very determined and competitive guy," Milbert said.

In 1989, Pugh took office as the state representative for District 39A, comprising northern cities in Dakota County. He became the DFL minority leader in 1998, a role he held through 2002. On the Judiciary Policy and Finance Committee, Pugh said, he learned how policies evolve into law and how funding for legal services affects disadvantaged Minnesotans.

Pugh supported several health care initiatives that required insurance companies to cover more health care costs, such as needles for insulin and diabetes-management education.

In 2004, Pugh left the Legislature after Gov. Tim Pawlenty appointed him to the state Public Utilities Commission to help regulate electric, natural gas and telecommunication companies. Pugh's last term as commissioner expired earlier this year.

Pugh was appointed to the judicial seat in November. The 1st District also includes Carver, Goodhue, Le Sueur, McLeod, Scott and Sibley counties.

Phyllis Reha, who has been on the utilities commission for 10 years, said Pugh is known for his "very even demeanor." While working with him, Reha said, she noticed Pugh was well-prepared, not impulsive.

"He'll make an excellent judge," Reha said.

FROM ADVOCACY TO NEUTRALITY

The transition from lawyer to judge is no small task.

A person new to the role must adjust from being an advocate to being neutral, from talking to listening, and from arguing to deciding, said Lynch, the 1st District's chief judge. Also, judges must be the experts on all types of cases, from arguments about damaged dry cleaning in conciliation court to homicide cases that could result in life prison sentences.

And cases usually have a significant emotional toll, Lynch said.

"You never get used to this aspect of being a judge, and it can be very difficult to deal with," he said. "It takes a period of time to adjust to the volume and variety of the cases."

Perkkio, 46, of Mendota Heights, calls her first months on the bench "humbling" because of the major decisions she makes. And the days are "absolutely exhausting."

"It's a different kind of tired," Perkkio said. "I think it's from listening so intently to what everyone has to say and just getting all the information and processing it."

Pugh admits that he has some anxiety about switching roles but he's preparing himself for the challenge. Pugh said his accomplishments led to this moment.

"It was good preparation for being a judge," he said.

Maricella Miranda can be reached at 651-228-5421. Follow Miranda on Twitter at twitter.com/ mariwritesnews.

JUDGES LEAVING THE BENCH

In state district courts, 100 judges have left the bench since 2006 because of retirements, resignations and election losses. In Minnesota, the mandatory age of retirement for judges is 70.

2011: 22, including 16 retirements

2010: 11, including nine retirements

2009: 13, including 10 retirements

2008: 20, including 16 retirements

2007: 12, including nine retirements

2006: 22, including 18 retirements

Source: Minnesota Judicial Branch State Court Administrator's Office

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