(Photo by s_falkow via flickr.com)

The University of Missouri–St. Louis community and interested citizens will have a rare opportunity to take in a Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, session outside of downtown St. Louis. The court will hear cases for a special docket between 10 and 11 a.m. Oct. 4 in the Summit Conference Room at the J.C. Penney Building/Conference Center at UMSL.

The court sessions are open to the public.

“We hope that students and others who attend the oral arguments will learn about the appellate process and gain a better understanding of our court’s role in the judicial system,” Chief Judge Gary M. Gaertner Jr. said. “It is important that we make our court and its judges accessible to citizens throughout Missouri. In addition, students interested in pursing a career in the law can see an actual session of court.”

Four judges from the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, will be participating: Judge Gaertner from St. Louis County, Judge Lawrence E. Mooney from St. Louis County, Judge Angela T. Quigless from St. Louis, and Judge Robert M. Clayton III from Hannibal. The judges will sit in panels of three to hear oral arguments from attorneys in three appeals – a juvenile appeal, a personal injury and a criminal appeal.

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.

Visit the Missouri Court of Appeals website to review a copy of the dockets.