John E. Simonett - Retirement From The Bench

Retirement From The Bench

In Minnesota, judges are required to retire from active service before their 70th birthday. Upon Simonett's mandatory retirement from the Supreme Court in 1994, Governor Arne Carlson appointed Paul H. Anderson, then Chief Judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, to take Simonett's place, and chose one of Simonett's daughters, Hennepin County District Court Judge Anne Simonett, to succeed Anderson as Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals. Anne Simonett's service was cut short by a brain tumor that proved fatal the following year. Another of his daughters, Martha Simonett, was later appointed to fill a District Court vacancy in Dakota County, where she continues to serve.

Upon his retirement from the bench, he practiced law in Minneapolis at the law firm of Greene Espel PLLP until 2007, and taught appellate practice at the University of Minnesota. He resided in St. Paul with his wife Doris, the former Doris Margaret Bogut.

The chapter of the American Inns of Court in the area of Central Minnesota in which he practiced law for 29 years is named the John Simonett American Inn of Court.