15 March 2022 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, is scheduled to convene court Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia. The arguments are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in Hulston Hall on campus.

A three-judge panel consisting of Judge Alok Ahuja, Judge Ted Ardini and Judge Thomas Chapman will hear oral arguments in four cases on the docket. After the oral arguments, the judges will take time to discuss the court system, explain the proceedings, and take questions from the audience. 

Ahuja will preside over the day’s proceedings at MU.He joined the Western District in 2007. Previously, he practiced law in Washington, D.C., and Kansas City. Ardini was appointed to the Western District in 2016. He previously served as counsel to the Missouri attorney general and then as counsel to the governor. 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 (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. 

Attachment: summaries of cases to be argued 

Contact: Kimberly K. Boeding, clerk of court

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District

(816) 889-3600