Theodora Gaïtas (born 1970 or 1971) is an American lawyer who has served as an associate justice of the

Minnesota Supreme Court The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center. History The court was first assemb ...

since 2024. She served as a judge on the

Minnesota Court of Appeals The Minnesota Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It began operating on November 1, 1983. Jurisdiction The Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over most appeals from the State court (United State ...

from 2020 to 2024.

Education

Gaïtas earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 1991 and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

University of Minnesota Law School The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, a public university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Pa ...

in 1994.

Career

Gaïtas began her career as a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

in the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. She also served as a clerk for Judge Robert H. Schumacher of the Minnesota Court of Appeals and was an assistant public defender in the Office of the Minnesota Appellate Public Defender and Bucks County Public Defender's Office. Gaïtas later worked as an attorney at Matonich Law and served as a judge of the Hennepin County District Court from 2018 to 2020. In May 2020, Governor

Tim Walz Timothy James Walz (; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician who has served since 2019 as the 41st governor of Minnesota. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States, vice pre ...

appointed Gaïtas to serve as a judge of the

. She assumed office on August 24, 2020, succeeding John Rodenberg. On April 22, 2024, Walz announced his intent to appoint Gaïtas to the

Personal life

Gaïtas is the daughter of a Greek immigrant. Born in Minnesota, she spent her childhood in Athens, Greece, and returned to Minnesota for college. She is the widow of Chris Sur, who died in 2023 at age 55; they have a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaïtas, Theodora Living people 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American women lawyers Year of birth missing (living people) Justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court Minnesota Court of Appeals judges Minnesota lawyers Minnesota state court judges Public defenders University of Minnesota alumni University of Minnesota Law School alumni