3 March 2022

ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, convened court to hear two cases for a special docket at Saint Louis University School of Law, Chief Judge Sherri Sullivan announced. Students, teachers and staff were invited to attend the court session when the Court of Appeals held a docket beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 3, 2022, at the school’s location on Tucker Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri.   

This special law school docket continues the Eastern District’s tradition of convening court in areas outside of the Old Post Office in downtown St. Louis, where the court regularly conducts its sessions. 

“Our court strongly believes in holding oral arguments at the law school where the students may observe and get involved in the court process,” Sullivan said.  

Four judges from the Court of Appeals participated in the docket: Judge Sullivan, Judge James M. Dowd, Judge Gary M. Gaertner Jr. and Judge Philip M. Hess. The judges sat in  panels of three to hear oral arguments in two appeals from the St. Louis circuit court. After the court session, the judges participated in a question-and-answer session with audience members and students regarding courts, the role of judges and the judicial system.  

Sullivan was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1999 after serving as a circuit judge, an associate circuit judge and an assistant circuit attorney. Dowd was appointed in June 2015 after practicing law in St. Louis at The James M. Dowd Law Firm, Dowd & Dowd, and Watson & Dameron. Gaertner was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2009. He previously served as a circuit judge, a federal prosecutor for the United States attorney’s office and a state prosecutor. Hess was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2013. Previously, he practiced law in St. Louis in private practice.  

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, is the state’s largest appellate court, with offices in the historic Old Post Office in downtown St. Louis. There are 14 judges on the court, which handles approximately 50 percent of the intermediate appellate caseload in Missouri. The Eastern District has jurisdiction over appeals from trial courts in the city of St. Louis and 25 counties stretching from the Iowa border to Cape Girardeau. The court regularly hears cases in St. Louis, Hannibal, Cape Girardeau and other locations in the Eastern District.

In addition to this docket, the court has held sessions at other schools, including Brentwood High School, Culver Stockton College, Hannibal-LaGrange University, Jefferson College, Lindenwood University, Southeast Missouri State University, St. Charles County Community College, St. Louis Priory School, University of Missouri-St. Louis, Villa Duchesne and Washington University School of Law.

 

Note: All photographs, in story and below, courtesy Saint Louis University School of Law.

Contact: Laura Roy, clerk of court

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District

(314) 539-4300