Hildy Bowbeer served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota from June 2014 until her retirement in June 2022. Judge Bowbeer received her law degree from the University of Michigan in 1979. Following her graduation, she clerked for the Minnesota Supreme Court before entering private practice. In 1985, she became one of the seven founding partners of Bowman and Brooke, and had a national practice as a trial and appellate lawyer specializing in product liability litigation before she joined 3M Company in 1997 to manage its mass tort and product liability litigation. In 2001, she joined 3M’s Office of Intellectual Property Counsel as Assistant Chief Intellectual Property Counsel. In that role, she managed IP litigation both in the U.S. and internationally, in addition to responsibilities with 3M’s Litigation Technology Support group. Judge Bowbeer continues to be active in a number of professional organizations. She is a judicial advisor to the Sedona Conference projects on Patent Litigation Best Practices and Trade Secret Litigation Best Practices. She serves on the Federal Practice Committee for the District of Minnesota and co-authored the District’s guide for practitioners on electronic discovery. She is also active in the Minnesota Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and co-chairs the chapter’s Civil Discovery Practice Group. In addition, she is a life member of the American Law Institute and the President-elect of the Hon. Jimmie V. Reyna Intellectual Property Inn of Court. She has authored a number of articles and book chapters and speaks frequently in the U.S. and abroad on litigation management, intellectual property enforcement, electronic discovery, and mediation.