Eric Hylden

Eric Hylden recently retired from the Minnesota Judicial Branch after serving as a trial court judge in the Sixth Judicial District for 18 years.

Governor Tim Pawlenty appointed Eric Hylden to the Sixth Judicial District Court in 2007 and he won election in 2008, 2014, and 2020. Eric was chambered in the Duluth Courthouse. He retired in 2025. As judge, he handled every case type, presided over 100 jury trials, and served for many years as Presiding Civil Judge in Duluth. He continues to serve the Minnesota Judicial Branch as a Senior Judge.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Eric worked at one firm from 1987 to 2007, finally as a shareholder in Reyelts, Leighton, Bateman and Hylden. He represented clients in all aspects of civil litigation, including professional liability, personal injury and wrongful death, construction defects, commercial litigation, property/border disputes, FELA/railroad cases, maritime claims, and product liability. Eric tried dozens of cases to verdict. He was named a Super Lawyer many times while in private practice.

Eric is a qualified neutral under Rule 114 of the General Rules of Practice, listed on the Facilitative/Hybrid and Adjudicative/Evaluative rosters. He will handle ADR assignments in Duluth and the Sixth Judicial District, in the Twin Cities metro area, and across greater Minnesota.

Eric graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 1984 and cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1987.

Eric is a 4^th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, 2^nd degree in Hapkido, and 2^nd degree in Kumdo. He has run 22 races of marathon distance or longer.