Judge Paul C. Wilson

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photo of Paul C. Wilson

Supreme Court of Missouri

 

Dates of judicial service

  • Appointed to the Supreme Court in December 2012
  • Retained by voters at the November 2014 general election for a 12-year term ending December 31, 2026
  • Served a two-year term as chief justice July 2021 through June 2023
  • Previously served as a circuit judge in the 19th Judicial Circuit (Cole County)

 

Education

  • Bachelor of Arts, Drury College, Springfield, Missouri, 1982 
  • Juris Doctor, cum laude, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, 1992

 

Prior employment

  • Member, Van Matre, Harrison, Hollis, Taylor and Bacon PC law firm, Columbia, Mo., 2011 to 2012
  • Director of Transform Missouri Project, 2009 to 2010
  • Senior Counsel for Budget and Finance, 2009
  • Deputy Chief of Staff for Litigation, Missouri Attorney General’s Office, 1996 to 2008
  • Associate, Sullivan & Cromwell law firm, New York, 1994 to 1996
  • Law Clerk to the Honorable Richard F. Suhrheinrich, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 1993 to 1994
  • Law Clerk to the Honorable Edward D. Robertson Jr., Supreme Court of Missouri, 1992 to 1993

 

Professional memberships and activities

  • Member:
    • Missouri Bar, 1992 to present
    • Cole County Bar Association
    • Boone County Bar Association
  • Also admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of the United States


Civic and charitable activities

  • Elder, First Presbyterian Church, Jefferson City

 

Awards and honors

  • Eagle Scout
  • Ray Marvin Award, Executive Committee of the National Association of Attorneys General, 2002

 

Additional information

  • Born in Jefferson City, Mo.
  • Married to Laura O’Kelley Wilson and father of Meredith and Alice Wilson
  • Judge Wilson’s father, McCormick Wilson, served as a Cole County Associate Circuit Judge for many years and his mother, Lorna Wilson, served as Director of the Cole County Health Department and the State Division of Maternal, Family and Child Health.
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