Experience
Judge Manning was appointed to the bench by Governor Mark Dayton, after being recommended by the Minnesota Judicial Selection Commission. He has served since February 2014 and is currently assigned to a rotation in Juvenile Court. He is presently the longest serving judge in that division. In 2021, the nation's largest foundation working in child protection, Casey Family Programs, named Judge Manning as one of the recipients of its Casey Excellence for Children Leadership awards. In his current assignment, he handles civil child protection matters, juvenile delinquency cases, adoptions, firearm-rights restoration petitions, and expungement requests for juvenile records. Judge Manning previously was assigned to a civil block, where he also handled misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor criminal cases for the western suburbs in the Ridgedale courthouse. Before that, he served on the downtown criminal team.
Before taking the bench, Judge Manning was a partner at a major Minneapolis-based firm, where he worked on civil and criminal matters. As a lawyer in private practice, he worked on cases worth a few thousand dollars to cases worth hundreds of millions of dollars, for plaintiffs and for defendants. On a volunteer basis, he represented children, guardians ad litem, and an inmate with a low IQ who had an unconstitutional death sentence, as well as teaching a course as an adjunct at St. Thomas Law School. He also served as counsel to Minnesotans United for All Families and Project 515.
Leadership
While on the bench, he has served on the 4th District Court Executive Committee, on the 4th District's forms committee, as co-chair of the juvenile RAI re-validation committee, as an evaluator of juvenile probation program vendors, on the 4th District Family Violence Coordinating Council, on the state-wide Court Operations Advisory Workgroup, and on the state-wide Children's Justice Initiative committee. He regularly participates in the ICWA Cabinet, hosted by the Indian Child Welfare Law Center.
Professional and Community Activities
Judge Manning is a member of the Hennepin County and Minnesota Bar Associations. He has been an adjunct professor and mentor at the University of St. Thomas Law School, a regular mentor for college students interested in legal careers, and a panelist for legal education programs. He has served as the president of the Board of Trustees of the Heilicher Minneapolis Jewish Day School and the president of Shir Tikvah, a Minneapolis synagogue. He currently chairs the Board of Directors of Trademark Theater in Minneapolis.
Education
University of Michigan Law School (J.D.)
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan (M.P.P.)
Carleton College (B.A.)