(UPDATED October 30, 2023)

Judge Ginger Gooch (Class of 2012) was selected for a vacancy on the Missouri Supreme Court. Judge Gooch currently serves on the Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District. Click on the link to learn more and to hear Judge Gooch speak to the press.

(Original post) The Springfield News Leader stated that if selected, Judge Gooch would be the first working judge in 100 years to be selected from Springfield.

Judge Gooch was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2022. She joined another GMLC alum (Class of 1991) Judge Mary W. Sheffield who has served since 2012. This appointment was historic on its own as the seven-member court is comprised of four women and three men, the first majority female appellate court division in Missouri history.

When Mary R. Russell stepped into the role of chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court of Missouri earlier this year, she noted the advancement of women in the legal profession in the July-August issue of the Journal of the Missouri Bar: “Today, Missouri law schools are graduating classes with more than 50% women, with many more female professors and women having served as deans. The Missouri Bar is now led by three women and a female executive director; similarly women serve in leadership roles for local bar associations across the state. Approximately one-third of Missouri judges are women, and it is not uncommon for a courtroom to have a female judge and all female attorneys in the courtroom arguing a case. The presiding judges in our three larges trial courts are all women. Although we need more women in leadership roles in the large firms, gone are the days when law firms hired one token woman and no more.”

Should Judge Gooch be selected by Governor Parson, she will join three other women who sit on the bench of the state’s supreme court.

Our cohort members learn about the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan while meeting with these women leaders during Session One of the Leadership Challenge.