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BIOGRAPHY OF MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL LORI SWANSON
Lori Swanson was elected Attorney General of the State of Minnesota in 2006. She is Minnesota’s 29th Attorney General and its first female Attorney General. Attorney General Swanson has been an advocate for Minnesota citizens in such areas as predatory mortgage lending, health care, financial fraud against the elderly, utility rate hikes, consumer protection, public safety, and protecting our natural resources.
Attorney General Swanson’s lawsuits against insurance companies that sold unsuitable policies to senior citizens resulted in almost $1 billion in refund offers to consumers. She shut down the largest consumer credit arbitration company in the country after discovering that it stacked the deck against consumers and in favor of credit card companies. She has taken action against companies that sold phony health insurance policies, clinics that deceptively enrolled patients in high-interest credit cards, hospitals that charged usurious interest, and pharmaceutical companies that engaged in monopolistic pricing. She also secured an agreement with Minnesota hospitals not to charge unfair prices to uninsured patients. Lori has held utilities to account for excessive rate hike requests, has taken action to stop utilities and propane companies from gouging people on fixed incomes with deceptive fine print contracts, and has stopped cell phone companies from deceptively extending consumers’ contracts without their permission.
Lori has filed lawsuits against mortgage consultants that duped homeowners in foreclosure, brokers that sold toxic adjustable rate mortgages, collection agencies that hounded the wrong people, employment agencies that offered bogus promises of help to job-seekers, adoption agencies that tricked prospective parents, trust mills that duped the elderly, and debt negotiation companies that failed to deliver on their promises to help people with their debt. She has also taken action to provide stewardship for Minnesota’s natural resources against nuisance feedlots, invasive species, water pollution, and toxic chemicals.
At the State Capitol, Lori has successfully shepherded into law numerous legal reforms. Her office drafted and helped secure the enactment of a nationally-recognized predatory mortgage lending law, as well as laws to protect kids from cyberbullies and online predators, to give prosecutors more tools to go after sex offenders, to protect victims of domestic abuse, and to give members of the military and their families greater consumer protections when deployed to active duty. She has testified before Congress on multiple occasions in favor of insurance, mortgage, credit card, and consumer reforms.
Lawyers USA named Lori one of the top ten attorneys in America for 2009. The National Consumer Law Center awarded her the Robert Drinan “Champion of Justice” award for her consumer protection work. In 2009, she was awarded the Pro Patria Award for her support of National Guard and Reserve members. The Drum Major Institute of New York cited Lori’s predatory mortgage lending legislation as one of the ten best public policies in the country in 2007.
From 2003 to 2006, Lori served as Solicitor General for the State of Minnesota. From 1999 to 2002, she served as Deputy Attorney General. Prior to that, Lori was an attorney in private practice.
Lori graduated magna cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota and with distinction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She and her husband live in Eagan, Minnesota.
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