11 September 2017

ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, will convene a special session of the Court en Banc in memory of the late Judge Richard B. Teitelman on September 25, 2017, to mark what would have been his 70th birthday. The session begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Old Post Office, 815 Olive Street, St. Louis, Missouri. Teitelman died November 29, 2016. He served as judge for the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, from 1998 until March 2002, when Governor Bob Holden appointed him to the Supreme Court of Missouri. He served as that court’s chief justice from July 2011 through June 2013. 

Teitelman’s former colleagues at the Supreme Court, Judge George Draper III and Michael Wolff; St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser; and attorneys Maurice Graham, Doreen Dodson and Dan Glazier are the invited speakers.

Teitelman was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics, and at Washington University Law School, where he obtained his juris doctorate degree. He was in the private practice of law from 1973 to 1975, when he joined Legal Services of Eastern Missouri Inc. He served as its executive director and general counsel from 1980 until 1998, when Governor Mel Carnahan appointed him to the Court of Appeals. 

He was very active in the legal community, serving on numerous boards, and received countless awards. He was active in the American Bar Association, the Board of Governors of the Missouri Bar Association, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, the Women’s Law Association of Greater St. Louis, the Mound City Bar Association, and the American Blind Lawyers Association.

Teitelman, who was legally blind, was dedicated to ensuring equal access to justice for all, including the disabled. He was a pioneer as both the first Jewish and first legally blind judge on the Supreme Court of Missouri.

He is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Gilbert and Elyse Teitelman, two nieces, Jodi and Melissa, and two nephews, Morry and Mason.


Contact: Laura Roy, clerk of court
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District
(314) 539-4300