Paul C. Wilson (born May 23, 1961) is the chief justice of the

Missouri Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...

. He was appointed in 2012, and was formerly a circuit judge in the 19th Judicial Circuit.

Education

Wilson received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in Theatre from Drury University in 1982 and his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

, cum laude, from the

University of Missouri School of Law The University of Missouri School of Law (Mizzou Law or MU Law) is the law school of the University of Missouri. It is located on the university's main campus in Columbia, forty minutes from the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. The sc ...

in 1992. Received an Honorary Doctorate in Law from Drury University in 2022.

Legal career

He served as a law clerk to Justice Edward D. Robertson Jr. of the

from 1992 to 1993 and then Judge Richard F. Suhrheinrich of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1993 to 1994. From 1994 to 1996, he was an associate with

Sullivan & Cromwell Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Known as a white-shoe firm, Sullivan & Cromwell is recognized as a leader in business law, and is known for its impact on international affairs, such a ...

. From 1996 to 2008, he served as an assistant attorney general, and then as a deputy chief of staff litigation. From 2009 to 2010, he served as a senior counselor for budget and finance and as director for the Transform Missouri Initiative. He sat as a Judge of the 19th Judicial Circuit Court in Cole County from January 2010–March 2011. From 2011 to 2012, he was a member of the Columbia law firm Van Matre, Harrison, Hollis, Taylor and Bacon. On December 3, 2012, Governor Jay Nixon announced his appointment of Wilson to the Missouri Supreme Court. He became the Chief Justice on June 30, 2021.

Personal life

He is married to Laura O’Kelley Wilson and they have two daughters Meredith and Alice. 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.

References

External links

Missouri Supreme Court profile
* , - 1961 births 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers Drury University alumni Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri Living people Missouri state court judges Missouri lawyers New York (state) lawyers People from Jefferson City, Missouri University of Missouri School of Law alumni {{US-state-judge-stub