On November 14, 2002, the Senate confirmed Daniel L. Hovland as a judge for the District of North Dakota. He was born and grew up in Moorhead, Minnesota. He received his bachelor of arts degree and graduated with honors from Concordia College (Moorhead) in 1976. He went on to graduate with distinction from the University of North Dakota Law School in 1979. As a law student he served as senior editor of the North Dakota Law Review, and he was a recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award in Products Liability, as well as an award in the North Dakota Trial Lawyers Association Student Writing Contest.
After graduating from law school, he served one year as a law clerk for Chief Judge Ralph J. Erickstad of the North Dakota Supreme Court. He then went on to work as Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Attorney General for the State of North Dakota from 1980 to 1983. During his time there he worked in both the civil and criminal litigation divisions and served as Director of the Consumer Fraud Division.
In the summer of 1983, he became a partner in the law firm of Fleck, Mather & Strutz in Bismarck, North Dakota. His work with the firm consisted of civil litigation with an emphasis on medical malpractice, personal injury, wrongful death, product liability, and employment law. In 1994 he joined the law firm of Smith, Bakke, Hovland & Oppegard as a partner, where he has worked until becoming a U.S. District Court Judge.
From 1992 to the present, he has also served as Commissioner of the Bismarck Parks & Recreation District, and he has served as an Administrative Law Judge for the State of North Dakota since 1994. He is also an established mediator; designated as a qualified neutral in both North Dakota and Minnesota, having conducted more than 450 mediations, arbitrations, and hearings.
He is a member of both the North Dakota and Minnesota State Bar Associations, and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.
Judge Hovland was sworn in on November 26, 2002, and his investiture took place on February 28, 2003. Welcome, Judge Hovland!
