The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, will convene a special session of the court en banc to unveil portraits of Judges Colleen Dolan and Sherri Sullivan at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at the Old Post Office, 815 Olive Street, in St. Louis. Dolan retired effective August 2, 2022, and J Sullivan retired one year later on August 1, 2023. These two judges served the Missouri judiciary as associate circuit, circuit and appellate judges for a combined 63 years.
Dolan received her bachelor of science degree in the administration of justice from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and earned her law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law. Prior to her appointment to the court of appeals, Dolan served as circuit judge for 10 years and an associate circuit judge for five years, both in the 21st Judicial Circuit (St. Louis County). Prior to taking the bench, she was in the private practice of law from 1985 to 1994. In 2016, she was appointed to the court of appeals, serving as its chief judge from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. She retired in 2022 after serving the Missouri judiciary for 28 years.
In addition to her professional accomplishments, Dolan finds time to serve her community, volunteering with Action for Autism. She is a member of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, the Lawyers Association of St. Louis, the Women Lawyers’ Association and the St. Louis County Bar Association.
Sullivan, a native St. Louisan, earned her bachelor’s degree in 1978 from the University of Missouri-St. Louis after working as a machinist at Lincoln Engineering. She earned her law degree in 1981 from Saint Louis University School of Law. She joined the circuit attorney’s office after graduating from law school and worked there until 1989. She was appointed as an associate circuit judge in the city of St. Louis (22nd Judicial Circuit) in 1989. Five years later, she was appointed as a circuit judge there. In 1999, she was appointed to the Missouri Court of Appeals, serving as its chief judge from July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2004, and again from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022. She retired in 2023 after serving the Missouri judiciary for more than 35 years.
Sullivan has been very active in the legal community, holding memberships in the American Bar Association, The Missouri Bar, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, the Women Lawyers’ Association of Great St. Louis and the National Association of Women Judges. The University of Missouri-St. Louis honored her with its Trailblazer Award, and she was inducted into the Saint Louis University School of Law Order of the Fleur de Lis Hall of Fame in 2022.
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