section_path: Early career
section_name: Early career
paragraph_text: Early career
  
  Hortman worked as an intern in the United States Senate for Al Gore and John Kerry, and clerked for Judge John Sommerville while in law school. She served on the Brooklyn Park City Human Relations Commission and worked as an assistant county attorney for Hennepin County. She first gained public attention in 1997, as a lawyer on a case involving housing discrimination by landlords; she won a $490,181 civil award for her client, which was "then the largest such award in state history".
  
  Hortman worked as an intern in the United States Senate for Al Gore and John Kerry, and clerked for Judge John Sommerville while in law school. She served on the Brooklyn Park City Human Relations Commission and worked as an assistant county attorney for Hennepin County. She first gained public attention in 1997, as a lawyer on a case involving housing discrimination by landlords; she won a $490,181 civil award for her client, which was "then the largest such award in state history".