Hon. Theodora Karin Gaïtas is a judge for the Minnesota Court of Appeals. She was appointed to its bench by Governor Tim Walz in 2020, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. John Rodenberg (Ret.).
Prior to her appointment, Gaïtas was a judge for the 4th Judicial District Court in Hennepin County, having been appointed by former Governor Mark Dayton in 2018.
Before beginning her judicial career, she was an attorney at Matonich Law, P.C. and an assistant public defender with the Office of the Minnesota Appellate Defender and the Bucks County Public Defender’s Office. Gaïtas also served as a judicial clerk to the Hon. Robert H. Schumacher with the Minnesota Court of Appeals and a law clerk in the Appellate Division with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
She received a B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1991. Gaïtas went on to complete a J.D. at the University of Minnesota Law School in 1994.
Her memberships have included the Minnesota State Bar Association, the Hennepin County Bar Association, the Minnesota District Court Judges Association, and the Minnesota Women Lawyers.
Gaïtas has taught as an adjunct professor of law at William Mitchell College of Law and served as a judge for the Law in Practice Chambers Conference at the University of Minnesota School of Law.
She sat as a member of the Minnesota Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee for the Minnesota Rules of Evidence, the Advisory Committee for the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure, and the Advisory Committee for the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure. Gaïtas was also co-chair of the Hennepin County District Court Domestic Violence Steering Committee.
She served on the Board of Directors of the Jungle Theater, the Children of Incarcerated Caregivers, and the Twin Cities Theater Camp. Gaïtas has also been a volunteer for the Minnesota High School Mock Trial.