• University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • J.D.
• University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • B.A.
  • Major: Political Science
  • Minor: Economics
• MBA credits in finance
• New York University School of Law 1998
  • Advanced studies in appellate writing
• John Marshall School of Law, Chicago, Illinois 2002-2018
  • International Moot Court Competition involving Information Technology and Privacy Law

• Minnesota Judicial Merit Selection Commission, Chair, 1991-1997
• D.A.R.E., Board of Directors, 1998-2008
• No-Fault Arbitration Committee for State of MN, Chair, 2004-2010
• Minnesota State Bar Associations, Member
• Hennepin County Bar Associations, Member
• Minnesota Merit
• Minnesota Chapter, Diplomat and Charter Member, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals
• American Bar Association
• American Bar Association-Section of Dispute Resolution
• Life Member of The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
• Congress of CILS Fellows, Center for International Legal Studies, Salzburg, Austria

Honors & Awards

• Former Certified Trial Lawyer, 1997-2004
• Distinguished Jurist of the Year for 2004 by the Academy of Certified Trial Lawyers of Minnesota
• 97% of the votes in the Minnesota State Bar Association Preference Poll, 2000
• Super Lawyer designation

Justice Gilbert, Gilbert Mediation Center has 6 conference rooms available, free parking, and lunches provided. We provide ADR services in-person, virtually, or a hybrid of both.

James H. Gilbert is a former Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. He is a former certified trial lawyer (1997 – 2004) and was named Distinguished Jurist of the Year for 2004 by the Academy of Certified Trial Lawyers of Minnesota. In 2000 he also received 97% of the votes in the Minnesota State Bar Association Preference Poll. He was nominated and accepted as a member of the Center for International Legal Studies’ Congress of Fellows, Salzburg, Austria. Gilbert presented at the institute’s 2025 May Mediation and ADR symposium in Vienna, Austria, on mediating international cases and bridging gaps with AI. CILS enjoys observer status on International trade law at the United Nations. 

A member of Meshbesher & Spence, Ltd. from 1972 through 1998, Justice Gilbert served as the law firm’s managing partner from 1984-1992, and as its chief executive officer from 1996-1997. Appointed in 1997 by former Governor Arne Carlson as an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Justice Gilbert then garnered 69% of the vote in a statewide election to become elected to the position in 2000, where he served until 2004. As an Associate Justice, he reviewed more than 5,000 petitions, participated in more than 800 decisions and authored numerous opinions, concurrences and dissents.

As both a trial attorney and Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Justice Gilbert has many years of practical experience with diverse cases including commercial litigation, real estate, corporate and business law, insurance, employment law and discrimination. He has completed both Arbitrator I – Fundamentals of the Arbitration Process and Arbitrator II – Advanced Case Management Issues with the American Arbitration Association and was a member of the American Arbitration Association National Roster of Neutrals from 2004-2008, and past Chair of the Minnesota No-Fault Insurance Arbitration Commission.

Please call office for details.