--- title: "Nancy Ellen Brasel | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/nancy-e-brasel" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Nancy Ellen Brasel U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota - State: Minnesota - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, D. Minnesota, 2018-present - Current position: Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota (2018–present) - American federal judge serving on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota since September 13, 2018 - Judge, Minnesota District Court, Fourth Judicial District, 2011-2018 - Judge, Minnesota District Court, 4th Judicial District (2011–2018), appointed by Governor Mark Dayton - Assistant U.S. attorney, District of Minnesota, 2008-2011 - Law Clerk, Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 1996-1997 - Notable prior roles: Assistant U.S. Attorney, Minnesota District Court judge ### Education - University of Minnesota-Twin Cities — J.D. (1996) - a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1996, where she was inducted into the Order of the Coif and held the role of managing editor of the Minnesota Law Review - M.A. in 1993 from the University of Texas at Austin - Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa — B.A. (1991) ### Additional information - President Donald Trump nominated her on February 15, 2018 to replace Judge Ann D. Montgomery, who had assumed senior status in 2016 - Private practice, Minneapolis, MN, 1997-2008 - Born 1969 in Durham, England. - Date of birth: 1969-01-01 - Also former chair of the Domestic Abuse Project in Minneapolis - As U.S. District Judge, Brasel presides over federal civil, criminal, and bankruptcy cases in Minnesota. - The American Bar Association rated her “unanimously well qualified” - Birth place: Durham, United Kingdom ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### courtroom technology Scope: courtwide Courtwide presentation-related guidance applies to this judge. Evidence excerpt: Our goal is to provide systems that are sophisticated, user-friendly and flexible. This document will provide a basic overview of the courtroom technology systems. Courtroom Technology Training and Testing Courtroom technology training and testing is available to ensure that your technology will properly function with the courtroom technology. [Courtroom Technology - Minneapolis Courtrooms 12W and 15](https://www.mnd.uscourts.gov/sites/mnd/files/Tech_Manual_Mpls12W_15_0.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### courtroom technology Scope: courtwide Courtwide presentation-related guidance applies to this judge. Evidence excerpt: Our goal is to provide systems that are sophisticated, user-friendly and flexible. This document will provide a basic overview of the courtroom technology systems. Courtroom Technology Training and Testing Courtroom technology training and testing is available to ensure that your technology will properly function with the courtroom technology. [Courtroom Technology - St. Paul Courtrooms 7A, 7B, 7D, and 3B](https://www.mnd.uscourts.gov/sites/mnd/files/Tech_Manual_StP7ABD3B_0.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### courtroom technology Scope: courtwide Courtwide presentation-related guidance applies to this judge. Evidence excerpt: Our goal is to provide systems that are sophisticated, user-friendly and flexible. This document will provide a basic overview of the courtroom technology systems. Courtroom Technology Training and Testing Courtroom technology training and testing is available to ensure that your technology will properly function with the courtroom technology. [Courtroom Technology - St. Paul Courtroom 7C](https://www.mnd.uscourts.gov/sites/mnd/files/Tech_Manual_StP7C_0.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/5153461) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/5153461) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/5153461) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/8659/nancy-ellen-brasel/) - [Courtroom Technology - Minneapolis Courtrooms 12W and 15](https://www.mnd.uscourts.gov/sites/mnd/files/Tech_Manual_Mpls12W_15_0.pdf) - [Courtroom Technology - St. Paul Courtrooms 7A, 7B, 7D, and 3B](https://www.mnd.uscourts.gov/sites/mnd/files/Tech_Manual_StP7ABD3B_0.pdf) - [Courtroom Technology - St. Paul Courtroom 7C](https://www.mnd.uscourts.gov/sites/mnd/files/Tech_Manual_StP7C_0.pdf) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/8659/nancy-ellen-brasel/) - [Wikidata: Nancy E. Brasel](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48567401) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/nancy-e-brasel", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/nancy-e-brasel", "name": "Nancy Ellen Brasel | KnowJudges", "description": "Nancy Ellen Brasel, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.