About Us

What You Should Know About Marty Swaden?

Marty Swaden

Owner

Marty Swaden

Marty Swaden practiced divorce and matrimonial law for 39 years, including cases with multi million dollar estates and hotly contested child custody issues.  Marty has been listed in The Best Lawyers of America since 1997, was named in the “Top 100 Attorneys in Minnesota (1983 and 2013) in Mpls/St Paul magazine, was named in the top 40 Minnesota Family Law Attorneys in Mpls/St Paul magazine, and a Minnesota Superlawyer in Mpls/St Paul magazine from 1994-2019.  Marty is a Past President of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.  Marty also taught at Hamline Law School and the University of St Thomas Law School as an adjunct professor at Hamline Law School. Swaden is doing extensive work in the area of Alternate Dispute Resolution in Family Law as a mediator, an arbitrator, a Consensual Special Magistrate, a Financial Early Neutral Evaluator, a Custody Early Neutral Evaluator, and a Parenting Consultant. A professional singer before he entered law school, Marty performed with the Minnesota Opera Company for 12 seasons and and has sung with the Mill City Summer Opera Company.

Marty has achieved an AV-Preeminent* rating, the highest rating available from Martindale Hubbell. He has been listed in the “Best Lawyers in America” publication for the last 15 years, both in his work as an advocate and as an ADR provider

• 100% Family law ADR

Certified Legal Specialties

• Completed mediation training, early neutral evaluation training, and arbitration training in family law, has served as Consensual Special Magistrate

Bar Admissions

• Minnesota, 1975

• U.S. Federal Courts, 1976

• U.S. District Court District of Minnesota, 1975

Education

• Pepperdine University School of Law, Malibu, California

  • J.D. – 1975

• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

  • B.A. cum laude – 1970

  • Honors: With Distinction

Published Works

• Custodial Rights in Minnesota Minnesota Family Law Journal

• Minnesota Family Law Update Minnesota Continuing Legal Education

• Efficient Operation of a Family Law Practice Minnesota Continuing Legal Education

• Minnesota Practice Series, (Co-Author), West Publishing, Family Law

• Custodial Rights in Minnesota, (Minnesota Family Law Journal),

• DeLaRosa v. DeLaRosa, Where do we go from here?, (Minnesota Trial Lawyer’s Magazine)

• Family Law Legislative Update, Minnesota Trial Lawyer’s Magazine)

• Uniform Parentage Act , (Minnesota Trial Lawyer’s Magazine)

• Family Law The Financial Paper Chase, (Minnesota CLE),

Classes/Seminars

• Adjunct Professor, William Mitchell College of Law

• Adjunct Professor, Hamline University School of Law

• AAML Divorce Camp, AAML

• Frequent Lecturer at Minnesota Continuing Education Seminars

Honors and Awards

• Listed in the “Best Lawyers in America”, 1997 – Present

• A “Top 40 Minnesota Family Law Attorneys” in Mpls. St. Paul Magazine

• A “Minnesota Super Lawyer” in Mpls. St. Paul Magazine

• A “Leading Minnesota Attorney”

• Martindale Hubbell Law Directory, Biography, AV (Highest Rating)

• Best Lawyers in America, 1997 – Present

• Top 100 Minnesota Attorneys, Mpls. St. Paul Magazine (1985 & 2013)

• Received Certificate of Appreciation from the Minnesota Trial Lawyer’s Association

• Appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court to the Family Law Rules Committee

• Family Court Referee by special assignment

• Marty Swaden has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 21st Edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the practice areas of: Family Law and Family Law Mediation and has been named the Best Lawyers’ 2014-15 Minneapolis Family Law Mediation “Lawyer of the Year.” Only a single lawyer in each practice area, in each community is being honored as a “Lawyer of the Year.”

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), Fellow and President-Elect, 1991

• International Academy of Family  Lawyers (IAFL), Former Member

• Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Past President

• Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association, Past Chairman, Family Law Committee

• Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association, Past Member, Board of Governors

• Hennepin County Family Law Committee, Past Member, Executive Committee

• Minnesota Bar Association, Member, Family Law Committee, Former Member

• Fourth Judicial District Ethics Committee, Past Member

• Former Member and Chair of the Minnesota ADR Ethics Committee

Past Employment Positions

• Meshbesher, Singer and Spence, Partner, 1975 – 1985

Languages

• Hebrew

*AV Preeminent and BV Distinguished are certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell ratings fall into two categories: legal ability and general ethical standards.