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500 E. Capitol Ave.
Pierre, S.D. 57501
(605) 773-3212
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011
CONTACT: Tony Venhuizen or Joe Kafka at 605-773-3212
Gov. Daugaard Appoints Mandel & Pfeifle As Judges in the Seventh Circuit
PIERRE, S.D. – Gov. Dennis Daugaard today announced the appointment of Robert A. Mandel and Craig A. Pfeifle, both of Rapid City, to serve as circuit court judges in South Dakota’s Seventh Circuit Court.
Mandel and Pfeifle will fill vacancies caused by the recent retirements of Judge John J. Delaney and Judge A.P. “Pete” Fuller. The Seventh Circuit includes Custer, Fall River, Pennington, and Shannon counties.
“I am extremely pleased to appoint two highly qualified attorneys to serve on the circuit bench,” Gov. Daugaard said. “Craig Pfeifle is a well-respected lawyer and litigator who has practiced in Rapid City for nearly 25 years, and Robert Mandel has spent nearly 30 years in the U.S. Attorney’s office working on complex cases in both civil and criminal law.”
Both Pfeifle and Mandel will assume their positions as circuit court judges no later than January of 2012.
About Craig A. Pfeifle (FY’-flee)
Craig Pfeifle is a shareholder and managing member of Lynn, Jackson, Shultz & Lebrun, a law firm he joined in 1987. His practice has focused on civil litigation and appeals, including insurance, education and employment law. Pfeifle has held leadership roles in the American Bar Association, South Dakota Bar Association, Pennington County Bar Association, and South Dakota Defense Lawyers Association.
Pfeifle is a Sioux Falls native and a graduate of Augustana College and The University of South Dakota School of Law. Prior to joining Lynn Jackson, he was a law clerk for Justice Robert Morgan of the South Dakota Supreme Court, and practiced law for a short time in Kansas City, Missouri.
Pfeifle is active in numerous civic organizations, including Youth and Family Services, the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program, Westhills Village Retirement Community, and Northern Plains Eye Foundation. Pfeifle and his wife Jane, who is also an attorney at Lynn Jackson, have four children and twin granddaughters.
About Robert A. Mandel (MAN’-del)
Robert Mandel is Supervisory Assistant United States Attorney, heading up the U.S. Attorney’s office in Rapid City. He previously served as first assistant U.S. Attorney for South Dakota. Mandel has been with the U.S. Attorney’s Office since 1982, working in Pierre from 1982-1986, in Rapid City from 1986-1995, in Sioux Falls from 1995-2002, and back in Rapid City since 2002.
As Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mandel has litigated several complex and high-profile cases, including the “Sue” Tyrannosaurus rex cases (Black Hills Institute of Geological Research v. U.S. Department of Justice and United States v. Larson); and United States v. Looking Cloud, the case involving the 29-year-old murder of Annie Mae Aquash. Mandel also represented the State of South Dakota as a Special Assistant Attorney General in a related Aquash case.
Mandel, a native of Chicago, is a graduate of Shimer College in Mount Carroll, Ill., and Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C. Before moving to South Dakota in 1982, he served as a county judge in Mercer County, N.D., from 1979 to 1982 and as a tribal judge in Fort Berthold Tribal Court from 1980 to 1982. Mandel and his wife, Kim, have one daughter.
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