14 October 2022 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, is scheduled to convene court in November at the University of Missouri School of Law and at Columbia College in  Columbia.

The arguments at the University of Missouri School of Law are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday, November 2, 2022, on campus in Hulston Hall. A panel consisting of Chief Judge Gary Witt, Judge Alok Ahuja and Judge Mark Pfeiffer will hear oral arguments in one of the cases on the docket. For the remaining two cases on the docket, Judge Thomas Chapman will join Chief Judge Witt and Judge Pfeiffer to hear oral arguments. 

The arguments at Columbia College are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, November 3, 2022, on campus at the Brouder Science Center in Bixby Lecture Hall. The panel for the Columbia College  docket will consist of Chief Judge Gary Witt, Judge Mark Pfeiffer and Judge Thomas Chapman. 

After the oral arguments for each docket concludes, the judges will take time to discuss the court system, explain the proceedings and take questions from the audience.

Witt, who will preside over the proceedings at both locations, joined the Western District in 2010. Immediately prior to his appointment, he served as an associate circuit judge in the 6th Judicial Circuit (Platte County). Previously, he practiced law in Platte County and served in the Missouri House of Representatives. Ahuja joined the Western District in 2007. Previously, he practiced law in  Washington D.C. and Kansas City. Pfeiffer was appointed to the Western District in 2009. Before his appointment to the judiciary, he practiced law in Springfield and Columbia. Chapman was appointed to the court of appeals in 2018. Immediately prior to his appointment, he  served as a circuit judge for the 43rd Judicial Circuit of Missouri (Caldwell, Clinton, Daviess, DeKalb and Livingston counties) for more than seven years.

The court typically convenes court in Kansas City. For more than 20 years, however, the court has held dockets in several of the 45 counties in the court’s jurisdiction, which includes all of northwest Missouri and most of central Missouri. The court hears oral arguments outside of Kansas City to give individuals an opportunity to observe a part of the judicial system they normally do not see and to familiarize those attending with the court's role in the judicial system.

Note: Attached are docket summaries for November 2 docket at MU and November 3 docket at Columbia College

Contact: Kimberly K. Boeding, clerk of court

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District

(816) 889-3600