About Mr. Max A.
Mr. Max A. Keller has built a career that moves between courtroom advocacy and appellate work. He trained as a law clerk before serving in both prosecution and defense roles. Over the last two decades he has settled into criminal defense practice while keeping active in bar groups and professional organizations.
Keller earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Carleton College in 1990. He went on to American University, where he received his J.D. in 1997. The legal education he completed in Washington exposed him to federal and state systems and helped shape his early interest in appellate procedure.
His first post-graduate position was a clerkship at the Minnesota Court of Appeals in 1997. The following year he joined the Minnesota Lawyer General’s Office as an Assistant Lawyer General. That role placed him on the government side of criminal matters and civil litigation for the state. In 2003 he moved to the Minnesota Public Defender’s Office as an Assistant Public Defender, taking on trial work and client advocacy for people facing criminal charges.
Those experiences give Keller a perspective informed by work on both sides of the docket. He has practiced in state courts across Minnesota and is admitted to practice before the Eighth Circuit. He is also licensed in Maryland. His background includes trial preparation, plea negotiations, and appellate filings.
Keller has remained active in professional associations throughout his career. He joined the Ramsey County Bar Association in 1997. Since 2005 he has held leadership duties as vice president of the Minnesota Society for Criminal Justice. He also sits on the Criminal Law Section Council of the Minnesota Bar Association, a post he has held since 2010. Those roles keep him connected to developments in criminal law and to fellow practitioners across the state.
In private practice he is associated with Keller Criminal Defense Lawyers and maintains a presence in St. Paul through a local criminal defense office. His practice handles a range of criminal matters, and he brings both trial and appellate experience to client representation. He continues to represent clients in state and federal matters, concentrating on criminal defense work in Minnesota and related appellate practice.
