Vera Institute of Justice

Lola Velazquez-Aguilu is vice president and chief legal counsel for Medtronic’s Neuromodulation Operating Unit (since 2023). Prior to her current position, Lola served as lead counsel for Medtronic's Brain Modulation business and as a litigation and investigations counsel (2018-2020).

She worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice for over eight years (2010-2018). Earlier in her career, she was an associate at Dorsey & Whitney (2008-2010), and clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Ann D. Montgomery and Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan C. Page.

Recently, Lola was part of the 14-member prosecution team assembled by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in the successful prosecution of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd. Lola has been recognized three times as an Attorney of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer, most recently for her work in the prosecution of Derek Chauvin and previously for her work at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including her work prosecuting several former executives of Starkey Hearing Technologies. In 2019 Lola received the Minnesota Lawyer Diversity and Inclusion Award for her work helping to diversify the judiciary in Minnesota.

Lola is an active member of several legal organizations including the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association. She has served the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection (2016-2020)—which oversees the recruitment and recommendation of judicial nominees, including as Governor Tim Walz’s appointed Chair of the Commission.

She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and JD from the University of Wisconsin Law School.