8 October 2014

ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, convened court to hear three cases for a special docket at Northwest Academy of Law, Chief Judge Angela T. Quigless announced. Students, teachers and staff were invited to attend the court session of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, when it held two dockets at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, October 8, 2013, at the school’s location on 5140 Riverview Boulevard.  

This special docket, the first ever held at Northwest Academy of Law, continues a tradition of the Eastern District 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 outside of our courthouse in St. Louis at locations where our youth may observe and get involved in the court process,” Judge Quigless said. "Northwest Academy of Law focuses on preparing students for careers in the fields of law and law enforcement. We hope that the kids who attend the oral argument will learn about the court and its role as the third branch in government. It is a wonderful way to allow them the opportunity to learn the difference between television shows and how the judicial system really works.”

Four judges from the Court of Appeals participated: Judge Quigless, Judge Sherri Sullivan, Judge Patricia Cohen and Judge Lisa Van Amburg, all from the city of St. Louis. The judges sat in panels of three to hear oral arguments from attorneys in one appeal from the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission, a second from the St. Louis city circuit court and the third from the St. Francois County circuit court.

Judge Quigless was appointed to the court of appeals in 2012. She previously served as a circuit judge for the 22nd Judicial Circuit, an associate circuit judge, an assistant circuit attorney for the city of St. Louis, and was also a federal prosecutor for the U.S. attorney’s office.

Judge Sullivan was appointed to the court in 1999. She previously served as a circuit judge, an associate circuit judge, and a prosecutor in the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office.

Judge Cohen was appointed to the court in 2003. She also previously served as a circuit judge in the 22nd Judicial Circuit and practiced law in private practice.

Judge Van Amburg was appointed to the court in 2012, after serving as a circuit judge for the 22nd Judicial Circuit. She previously practiced law at Van Amburg, Chackes, Carlson and Spritzer and Schuchat, Cook and Werner.

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 25 counties and the city of St. Louis 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, over the past 10 years the court has held sessions at other schools including St. Louis University School of Law, Washington University School of Law, St. Louis Priory School, Villa Duschesne, Brentwood High School, Jefferson College, St. Charles County Community College, Lindenwood University, Southeast Missouri State University, Culver Stockton College, Hannibal-LaGrange University, and University of Missouri-St. Louis.  
 

 

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