The State Bar Association of North Dakota Winter 2014 Gavel Magazine | Page 14

mCeVers Brings diVerse LegaL eXPerienCe to suPreme Court
Lisa Fair McEvers was sworn in on January 17 as North Dakota’s 58th Supreme
Court justice and the fourth woman to sit
on the state’s highest court. She will fill the
unexpired term of Justice Mary Muehlen
Maring until the 2016 general election.
Maring resigned from the Supreme Court
December 31, after nearly 18 years as a
justice.
Throughout her 17-year career as a
lawyer, McEvers says she has intentionally sought out a variety opportunities
and experiences. She believes this diverse
background has been good preparation to
be a Supreme Court justice.
The Minto, North Dakota, native began
working in 1987 as an administrative assistant to Presiding Judge James O’Keefe of
the Northeast Judicial District. Inspired by
the judges and lawyers she met in that position, McEvers earned undergraduate and
law degrees from the University of North
Dakota, in 1993 and 1997, respectively.
She was a law clerk to former Supreme
Court Justice William Neumann for a year,
prior to entering private practice in Fargo.
In 2001, she became an assistant state’s
attorney for Cass County, a position she
held until Governor John Hoeven appointed her North Dakota Commissioner
of Labor in 2005. Five years later, Hoeven
appointed her to the East Central District
Court, and she was elected to the position
in 2012.
Her professional diversity was noted by
Governor Jack Dalrymple when he announced her appointment to the Supreme
Court last November. “Judge McEvers
brings a wealth of experience to the position of Supreme Court justice, experience
that includes private practice litigation,
trying criminal cases before a jury and
presiding over civil and criminal cases as a
judge,” Dalrymple said. “She has a proven
track record of success at every position
she has accepted, including her service as a
District Judge and North Dakota Commissioner of Labor.”
Because of her background in juvenile
court and drug courts, McEvers expects

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to be involved in those two areas at the
Supreme Court. She is also expecting to be
involved in minority justice issues because
of her experience with minority discrimination issues while she headed the North
Dakota Labor Department.
Already a member on the Supreme Court’s
Personnel Policy Board and the Legislative
Council’s Commission on Alternatives to
Incarceration, she also expects to continue
involvement on both.
McEvers says she is honored to have
the opportunity to serve on the Supreme
Court. “I like change and new challenges.
Academically, I look forward to considering some weighty issues. I also am looking
forward to working with the other justices
because I hold all of them in very high
esteem.”

“

She has a proven track record of success at every
position she has accepted.
– Governor Jack Dalrymple

”

ADMINISTRATOR SETS 2014
Judgment interest rate
The North Dakota State Court Administrator has set the judgment interest rate for 2014 at 6.50 percent.
The adminstrator is required by law to annually determine the
judgment interest rate prior to Dec. 20. The rate will be applied to
all judgments entered in 2014.
The judgment interest rate is calculated by using the prime rate
as reported on the first Monday in December, plus three percentage points. The result must be rounded up to t H