Attorney Profile

Deborah Ellis has been doing criminal defense work for 25 years. She received her early training from nationally recognized criminal defense lawyer Douglas W. Thomson upon graduation from law school. She established her own solo practice in 1994 and became recognized by her peers as one of the top criminal defense lawyers in Minnesota.

Ms. Ellis practices in Minnesota and Wisconsin state and federal courts. She has also worked for over twenty years on a capital case from Shreveport, Louisiana, where her client, Glenn Ford, awaits a decision on his state post-conviction claim for a new trial.

Areas of Practice

• Criminal jury trials - state and federal
• Appellate and Post-conviction Relief
• Forfeiture

Bar Admissions

• Minnesota, 1983
• Wisconsin, 1992

Education

• William Mitchell College of Law, St Paul, Minnesota, 1983
  
  
• Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota, 1973
  
  
• National Criminal Defense College, Macon, Georgia, 1986
  
  
• Trial Lawyers College, Dubois, Wyoming, 2005
  
  

Honors and Awards

• Top 40 Criminal Lawyer Listing - Minnesota, 2008
• SuperLawyer, Minnesota Law & Politics Magazine, 1999 - 2007
• Top 40 Criminal Defense Lawyers, Minnesota Law & Politics Magazine
• Distinguished Service Award, Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2004

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Trial Lawyers College, 2006 - 2008
  Staff Member
  
  
• Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
  Past President (1994) and Past Member of the Board of Directors
  
  
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
  Lifetime Member
  
  
• Minnesota Women Lawyers
  Member