with Judge Foughty being one of several classmates who ascended to the bench. Alongside him are:
• Judge Deb Klevin was first elected as Grand Forks County judge in 1990 and was elected as Northeast Central Judicial District judge in 1994, serving until her resignation in 2016.
• Judge Thomas Merrick was appointed Southeast Judicial District judge in 2009, elected in 2012, and retired in 2016.
• Judge Laurie Fontaine was elected district judge in the Northeast Judicial District in 1998 and was reelected until her retirement in 2021. Judge Fontaine passed away on June 2.
• Judge Bruce Haskell was elected South Central Judicial District Judge in 1994 and served 24 years until his retirement in 2018. He now serves as a surrogate judge.
• Federal Magistrate Clare Hochhalter was appointed in 2019 and currently serves in the District of North Dakota.
• Judge Leslie Beiers currently serves as chief judge in the Sixth Judicial District in the Duluth, Minnesota, area. She was appointed in 2014.
• Magistrate Steven Running has served as a Judicial Child Support Magistrate in Minnesota.
The UND School of Law Class of 1983 graduated 95 students. Some have passed, and others have gone on different career paths. But a large percentage, like Judge Foughty, have gone on to serve the people of North Dakota and Minnesota with
Judge Foughty was presented with two star quilts at his retirement ceremony.
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honor and distinction. This remarkable achievement speaks to the strong foundation laid at the UND School of Law and the enduring bonds formed by classmates during those formative years.
Sheldon Smith is a member of the UND School of Law Class of 1983. He founded Smith Porsborg Sweigert Armstrong Moldenhauer & Smith law firm in 1983 in Bismarck, and has presented seminars on financial issues to judges, bar groups, and others for more than 30 years. He is a member of SBAND and served as chairman of The Gavel editorial board.
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