Douglas R. Peterson, shareholder at Leonard, Street and Deinard and head of the law firm's Mankato office, has been appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court to serve on its Civil Justice Reform task force.

At the request of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Peterson and 26 other attorneys serving on the task force are examining civil case processing statutes, court rules and practices, and making recommendations for facilitating more cost-effective and efficient civil case processing. The task force is charged with evaluating and following up on the findings of a report issued by the Civil Justice Forum, established in 2009 by then-Chief Justice Eric Magnuson. The task force will issue its recommendations to the Minnesota Supreme Court in December.

Peterson also was recently appointed by the United States District Court to serve on its Federal Practice Committee, which is responsible for putting into practice new developments in federal civil procedure.

A Mankato native and graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, Peterson is a nationally recognized litigator with particular experience in business litigation and white collar crime. He spent more than a decade as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota from 1986 through 1997, where he tried a variety of high-profile criminal cases, including white collar prosecutions of tax, fraud and money-laundering offenses.

Today, as a shareholder of Leonard, Street and Deinard, Peterson represents business owners and companies in commercial disputes with contract, tax and fraud implications; corporations and executives in connection with fraud-related internal investigations, civil litigation, government inquiries and criminal proceedings; closely held businesses and shareholders in disputes between shareholders, board members, officers and key employees; probate ligation; and health care litigation.