Mediation is math + feelings.

From 2019 to 2025, Starr served as Minnesota’s Chief Administrative Law Judge at the Court of Administrative Hearings. As chief executive, she led a statewide court delivering impartial, timely, and high-quality dispute resolution services—overseeing more than 10,000 new workers’ compensation cases each year and contested cases involving more than 250 state and local governments.

Previously, she was Assistant Commissioner for Business Taxes at the Minnesota Department of Revenue, responsible for administering the state’s corporate franchise, sales and use, excise, and property taxes. She also served as Tax Policy Manager and as an attorney specializing in estate and pass-through entity taxation—earning recognition as a leading voice in tax policy and legislative negotiations.

Starr began her career at Legal Assistance of Dakota County, providing free legal services to low-income families in divorce, custody, support, and protection order cases. She expanded a countywide pro bono program and later volunteered as appellate counsel before the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

In 2025, she returned to Minnesota’s family law community by co-developing and delivering a 16-hour experiential training in intercultural competency in partnership with the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts–Minnesota Chapter, the Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and the Family Law League.

Beyond her professional work, Starr is an avid skier and volunteers as an adaptive ski instructor with Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute and volunteers as a mediator with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. She has also taught as an adjunct professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

Admissions to Practice Law

• Minnesota Supreme Court

• Rule 114 Qualified Neutral Family: Facilitative/Hybrid and Adjudicative

• Rule 114 Qualified Neutral Civil: Facilitative/Hybrid and Adjudicative/Evaluative

Memberships

• Association of Family and Conciliation Courts

• Family Law League Minnesota

• American Bar Association

• Minnesota Lavender Bar Association

• Minnesota State Bar Association

• Ramsey County Bar Association

Public Speaking and Publications

• Jenny Starr & Aimee Gourlay, Listen, Explore, Resolve: The Role of Mayors in Managing Conflict in Government, Presentation at the League of Minnesota Cities 2026 Annual Conference (Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, Minn., June 2026).

• Jenny Starr, Beyond interests: The intercultural dimensions of mediation, Minnesota State Bar Association, Alternative Dispute Resolution Section (May 2026).

• Jenny Starr, Beyond interests: The intercultural dimensions of mediation, Minnesota Lavender Bar Association Annual Conference (Feb. 2026).

• Jenny Starr, Beyond interests: The intercultural dimensions of mediation, Bench & B. Minn. 24 (Dec. 2025).

• Jenny Starr, Aimee Gourlay & Elise Chambers, Listen, Explore, Resolve: Managing Conflict with the Public, Presentation at the Women in Public Service Conference (Hamline Univ., St. Paul, Minn., Nov. 2025).

Community Service

• Community Quest, AFCC-MN, AAML-MN, Family Law League, Facilitator

• Conference of Administrative Law Judiciary, Judicial Division, American Bar Association, Executive Committee Member (Past)

• Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, Volunteer Adaptive Ski Instructor

• Dakota County District Court, Volunteer Mediator

• Keeping Families Connected Minnesota, Board Member

• Minnesota Department of Human Rights, Volunteer Mediator

• Minnesota Lavender Bar Association, Board Member and Chair (Past)

• Ramsey County District Court, Volunteer Mediator

Education

• University of Minnesota – J.D., cum laude

• University of Minnesota – B.A., summa cum laude

Professional Development

• 40-hours Family Mediation Training, AFCC-MN: Trained in the practical components of mediation, child development, family dynamics, property division, custody, parenting time, child support, and more.

• 30-hours Civil Mediation Skills, Mediation Center: Trained by leaders in the field to provide a flexible and creative process that helps people find mutually acceptable resolutions to their issues and concerns.

• Administrative Law Fair Hearings, National Judicial College: Trained in the cornerstone of administrative fair hearings: due process.

• Comparative Tax Policy, Harvard University: Trained in analyzing and contrasting tax systems across different units of government to understand their design, implementation, and impact on economic and social outcomes.

• International Conflict Resolution, Queens University, Belfast: Studied international dispute resolution and human-rights–based peacebuilding.

• Qualified Administrator, Intercultural Development Inventory, LLC: Certified to help individuals and groups understand and develop intercultural competence.

• Targeted Universalism, Seed Collaborative / Othering and Belonging Institute: Certified in targeted universalism, a framework that sets universal goals for everyone, and uses targeted strategies to help different groups achieve those goals.