Leslie Miller Altman Obituary (1953 - 2012)

Leslie Miller Altman, 58, of Minnetonka, MN, died September 6th, 2012 after an aggressive fight against cancer. A native of Harrison, NY, she moved to MN 35 years ago with her husband, Frank. She was a graduate of Brown University (B.A.) and the University of Minnesota (M.A., J.D.). An attorney, she began her practice on the staff of Attorney General Hubert H. Humphrey, III, where she specialized in workers’ compensation. She was later appointed as the first woman judge to the MN Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals. She later practiced at the Lefevre firm, Rider Bennett, and most recently Littler Mendelson, where she was a key leader in the establishment of the firm’s workers’ compensation practice group. Leslie was a pioneer of women in leadership, and was one of the first females hired as a Minneapolis Park Patrol Agent. She was particularly committed to diversity and the elevation of the status of women in the legal profession. She twice co-chaired the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Diversity Task Force and also co-chaired its Diversity Survey Committee. She was a long-standing member of the Bar Association’s Women in the Legal Profession Committee, past president of the Minnesota Women Lawyers Association, a former director of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations, and participated in the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession. In May, the Hennepin County Bar Association presented her with its Diversity Award. Leslie was also a highly committed mother, mentor, and role model to her daughters, Lauren and Miriam, and devoted wife. She is also survived by her sister, Jacqueline M. Rosenthal (Dr. Daniel I. Rosenthal). Her memorial ceremony will occur on Sunday, September 9th at her home, 2515 Ridgewater Dr. in Minnetonka from 3pm to 6pm. Instead of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Altman Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation, 800 IDS Center, 80 So. Eight St., Mpls., MN 55402 www.minneapolisfoundation.org/