Ron Schutz, one of the Twin Cities’ most recognizable trial lawyers, is walking away from Robins Kaplan after nearly four decades to fully throw himself into his Republican bid to unseat Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. The longtime litigator told colleagues he was stepping aside to head off any potential conflicts between big-ticket private cases and a high-profile statewide campaign.
According to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Schutz had been an executive chairman at Robins Kaplan and spent about 38 years at the firm. In a March 3, 2026, report, the Business Journal noted that Schutz pointed to concerns about possible conflicts of interest as he enters the thick of campaign season, framing the move as an effort to clear away ethical question marks before they become political fodder.
Campaign background
Schutz first jumped into the race in October 2025 and has pitched himself as a tough-on-crime, government-accountability Republican, according to the Star Tribune. His core themes include prosecuting fraud and backing law enforcement, positioning him as a law-and-order alternative in a statewide office that often finds itself in the middle of political and cultural fights.
Incumbent Attorney General Keith Ellison announced in October 2025 that he is seeking a third term, MPR News reported, setting up a straightforward incumbent-versus-challenger matchup on the 2026 ballot.
What the move does for the race
Leaving private practice takes one obvious line of attack off the table and frees up Schutz’s calendar for the less glamorous work of statewide politics: logging miles, dialing donors, and hitting every fundraiser that will open a door. Those are the unflashy ingredients analysts watch when they are sizing up whether a challenger can make a real run at a statewide incumbent.
Observers following the attorney general contest say Schutz’s shift to full-time candidate status could help him sharpen his appeal to primary voters and financial backers, according to an analysis by the Minnesota Reformer. For Ellison, it reinforces a classic narrative: a sitting officeholder facing off against a seasoned professional challenger who is now all-in on the race.
Robins Kaplan and the local legal scene
Robins Kaplan, a national trial firm with a major footprint in Minneapolis, has been in the midst of planned leadership transitions as it chases high-profile litigation work around the country. The firm’s public materials describe recent changes on its executive board and among managing partners over the past two years, characterizing those shifts as part of a succession plan rather than any sudden shakeup.
Local legal observers say the firm is expected to keep its prominent docket intact while existing leaders absorb Schutz’s former responsibilities and reassign duties internally. In other words, one of Minneapolis’s marquee firms keeps moving, even as one of its marquee lawyers heads for the political arena.
Conflicts, ethics and disclosure
Minnesota candidates are subject to disclosure rules that govern potential conflicts of interest and financial ties. Those requirements include filing a Statement of Economic Interest under state law, including the obligation laid out in Minn. Stat. §10A.09. That legal framework is the baseline for how campaigns and ethics officials evaluate whether private work must be limited or disclosed, and it helps explain why some statewide hopefuls decide to pause or leave private practice during a run for office.
The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal report on March 3, 2026, is the first local account noted of Schutz’s formal departure from Robins Kaplan. Voters can expect his campaign to roll out more detail on his transition, his time away from the firm and how he plans to frame that move as the 2026 attorney general race heats up.
