Home County: St. Louis
Term of Service on the Supreme Court of Missouri: August 1998 – August 2011
Judge Michael A. Wolff was born April 1, 1945, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and raised in Rochester, Minnesota.[i] He attended Lourdes High School in Rochester.[ii] Wolff went on to Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, receiving his bachelor of arts in 1967.[iii] He also attended the University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis, from which he received his law degree in 1970.[iv]
From 1970 to 1971, Wolff was a law clerk for United States District Judge Miles W. Lord in Minneapolis.[v] From 1971 to 1972, he served as an attorney with Legal Assistance of Ramsey County, Minnesota, where he focused on law reform and litigation.[vi] In 1972, Wolff worked as a VISTA attorney with Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Denver in Colorado.[vii] In 1973, he served as the society’s director of research and the litigation division.[viii] From 1973 to 1975, Wolff served as the director of Black Hills Legal Services in Rapid City, South Dakota.[ix]
Wolff served on the faculty of the Saint Louis University School of Law for 23 years before being appointed to the Supreme Court of Missouri.[x] While at the university, he was an assistant professor from 1975 to 1977, an associate professor from 1977 to 1980, and a professor from 1980 to 1998.[xi] He has taught numerous law classes, including civil procedure, trial advocacy, health law, criminal sentencing, constitutional law and administrative law.[xii] Wolff also was on the faculty of the university’s School of Public Health from 1990 to 1998 and was an assistant professor in the Department of Community Medicine in the School of Medicine from 1978 to 1998.[xiii] He was a visiting professor at Sichuan University in the Peoples Republic of China in May and June 1989.[xiv] Wolff was a faculty advisor to the Law Journal from 1977 to 1980.[xv]
In August 1998, Governor Mel Carnahan appointed Wolff to the Supreme Court of Missouri.[xvi] Judge Wolff was retained by the people of the state in the November 2000 election.[xvii] He served as chief justice of the Court from July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2007.[xviii] On August 11, 2011, (the 13th anniversary of his first day at the Court),[xix] he retired from the Court and returned to Saint Louis University School of Law to lead its new advocacy center, Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Contemporary Advocacy.[xx] In March 2013, Wolff was named dean of the Saint Louis University Law School and served in that position until 2017.[xxi]
Wolff has been associated with a variety of professional organizations throughout his legal career. He is a member of the American Bar Association, The Missouri Bar, the Lawyers Association of St. Louis, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and the American Law Institute.[xxii] He was a chair and member of the Missouri Sentencing Advisory Commission from 2004 to 2011, member of the Supreme Court of Missouri Civil Rules Committee from 1989 to 1992 and 1995 to 1998, and served as co-chair of the Jury Instructions Committee of the Labor Law Section of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, as well as various other bar committees.[xxiii] Wolff is active in the American Law Institute, serving as an advisor on the Model Penal Code Sentencing Project; serves as a board member of the National Courts and Science Institute (NCSI); and is a member of The Constitution Project and serves on its Committee on Policing Reforms and Death Penalty Committee.[xxiv]
He has been recognized for his contributions to society through numerous awards and honors for his work within the legal field. While a professor at SLU, Wolff received the Teaching Excellence Award in 1981.[xxv] In 2004, he was the recipient of the Clarence Darrow Award from Saint Louis University School of Law.[xxvi] In 2006, Wolff was awarded the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association’s Joseph E. Stevens “Aspire to Excellence” Award.[xxvii] Also in 2006, he received the President’s Award from the Missouri Association of Probate and Associate Circuit Judges[xxviii] and was named Lawyer of the Year by Missouri Lawyers Weekly.[xxix] In 2007, Wolff was named Missouri’s Best Supreme Court Judge by Missouri Lawyers Weekly;[xxx] received The Missouri Bar’s Theodore McMillian Judicial Excellence Award;[xxxi] and received the distinguished Non-Alumnus Award from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law.[xxxii] Other honors include: the William J. Brennan Jr. Memorial Lecturer on State Courts and Social Justice at New York University in 2008; the Benjamin N. Cardozo Award for Judicial Courage and Excellence (Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) in 2011; the Donald P. Lay Champion for Justice Award from the National Employment Lawyers Association, Eighth Circuit in 2011;[xxxiii] and The Missouri Bar’s Sturgeon Smithson Award in 2013.[xxxiv]
[i] William H. Freivogel, “Mike Wolff established a progressive record,” St. Louis Beacon, Thursday, October 21, 2010.
[ii] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, and Rob Davis, ed. Official Manual of the State of Missouri 2003-2004, (Published by the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office: Jefferson City, MO, 2004) 227.
[iii] The Pulse Staff, “Honorable Duane Benton and Chief Justice Michael Wolff to be Honored at KCMBA’s 122nd Annual Meeting,” The Pulse Legal Publications, Sunday, November 26, 2006.
[iv] Blunt, Secretary of State, and Davis, ed. Official Manual of the State of Missouri 2003-2004, 227. See also; “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website, accessed on July 23, 201. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library in permanent file.
[v] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Paper copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[vi] Blunt, Secretary of State, and Davis, ed. Official Manual of the State of Missouri 2003-2004, 227. See also: “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[vii] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[viii] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[ix] Robin Carnahan, Secretary of State, and Laura Egerdal, ed. Official Manual of the State of Missouri, 2009-2010, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2010, 235.
[x] Blunt, Secretary of State, and Davis, ed. Official Manual of the State of Missouri 2003-2004, 227.
[xi] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xii] The Pulse Staff, “Honorable Duane Benton and Chief Justice Michael Wolff to be Honored at KCMBA’s 122nd Annual Meeting.”
[xiii] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xiv] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xv] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xvi] Kelsey Volkmann, “Wolff to step down from Missouri Supreme Court,” St. Louis Business Journal, October 20, 2010.
[xvii] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xviii] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xix] Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff Report, “Wolff’s last day on state Supreme Court is August 11,” Missouri Lawyers Weekly, June 12, 2011.
[xx] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxi] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxii] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxiii] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxiv] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxv] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxvi] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxvii] The Pulse Staff, “Honorable Duane Benton and Chief Justice Michael Wolff to be Honored at KCMBA’s 122nd Annual Meeting.”
[xxviii] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxix] Geri L. Dierling and Scott Lauck, “Lawyer of the Year,” Missouri Lawyers Weekly, Monday, December 25, 2006.
[xxx] Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff, “Best Supreme Court Judge,” Missouri Lawyers Weekly, Monday, October 1, 2007.
[xxxi] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxxii] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxxiii] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxxiv] “Biographical Summary, Curriculum Vitae, Michael A. Wolff, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law Judge, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, retired,” SLU Law Website. Copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
Biographical information authored by Megan Vancil, 2018, University of Missouri-Columbia.