The Supreme Court of Missouri’s newest judge, Judge Ginger K. Gooch, celebrated her formal investiture Wednesday afternoon, August 28, 2024, in a ceremony in the Division I courtroom of the Supreme Court Building in Jefferson City. Retired Judge Ann K. Covington – the first woman ever to serve on the state’s high court – administered the oath of office to Gooch, who served as one of her last law clerks before Covington retired. Gooch has been serving on the Court for nearly 10 months.
Chief Justice Mary R. Russell served as master of ceremonies. She welcomed more than 150 guests – including state and local officials, judges at various levels of the state and federal judicial branches, lawyers and others from across the state – who overflowed from the main courtroom to an auxiliary courtroom. Gooch’s husband and teenage son assisted with the robing. Speakers consistently described Gooch as intelligent, hard-working, honest, kind and humble to a fault. Several noted she probably was uncomfortable with the attention the ceremony brought.
Speaking first was Evan Rodriguez, general counsel to Governor Michael L. Parson, who twice appointed Gooch to the bench: first to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, and then to the Supreme Court of Missouri, establishing female majorities of both courts at the time. Rodriguez described Gooch as “phenomenal in so many ways” and noted she left the private practice of law to enter public service. He said he admires her work ethic, her tenacity, her kindness and her grace ... “her humility shines through.”
Attorney Bryan Wade spoke next. The managing partner of the Springfield office of Husch Blackwell LLP, Wade said he first met Gooch 25 years ago when he interviewed her for a job at the firm. He said he thought her resume was “intimidating for those of us who are less scholarly,” but during the interview, he found her to be “engaging, candid ... and kind to a fault,” with “no pretense whatsoever” and “no hint of intellectual snobbery.” He said they “instantly became friends” and then spent years working as a litigation team, trying civil cases across Missouri as well as Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas and Texas. He described her as “a true partner,” noting he never made a significant decision at the firm without consulting her.
Wade told a story of the last case they tried together, which he described as very adversarial and very stressful. He said the trial judge ultimately asked Gooch to draft the jury instructions for the parties. Wade said, “That is the highest compliment a judge can give a lawyer. The judge knew she would be honest and fair ... and [the instructions] would be right!”
Wade concluded, “I miss her every day, but my loss is Missouri’s gain.”
The final speaker was Crista Hogan, longtime executive director for the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association, of which Gooch is a former president. She described the historic nature of Gooch’s appointments – first giving the Southern District appeals court its first female majority, and then ensuring a female majority on the state’s high court – saying, “For those of us [women] who have worked in a male-dominated profession for decades, it matters.”
She praised Parson for the appointments, noting, while he “has repeatedly stated he has never made selections with consideration to the gender of the nominees, ... this is the Show-Me State, and actions speak volumes. In making his selections to our state’s highest courts, our governor has repeatedly shown us the best man for the job just might be a woman.” Hogan called the female majority Court “a stunning sight to behold” and “a source of inspiration for the next generation of lawyers.”
Hogan also noted, of the 121 judges ever to serve on the state Supreme Court, Gooch is only the 10th from the region comprising the Southern District, the first female Southern District judge elevated to the high court and the first Springfieldian in a century to serve on the high court.
“It simply could not have happened to a more deserving person,” Hogan said. “Judge Gooch is the best of us. She is smart, sensible, kind, industrious. When she was appointed, I asked her, ‘What are you most looking forward to?’ And she said, ‘The work.’ Is she perfect? No. ... She’s too darn humble.”
Hogan closed by quoting from the letter Gooch had sent in 1997, as a first-year law student, thanking the SMBA for awarding her a scholarship. Her letter stated, while she could not justify missing classes with finals approaching, she wanted to thank the association, saying, “It is so encouraging to begin law school knowing that attorneys in my hometown wish to invest in my law school education, and they think I can succeed.”
After the robing, Gooch offered her own remarks, noting she was “overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to serve in this role” and for her family, her friends, her colleagues and the governor for making it possible for her to serve.
“I hope I serve as an example to others of what is possible with education, mentorship, sponsorship and encouragement,” Gooch said. “I come from a family of non-lawyers. ... There are no other judges. ... I really had no idea what I was doing when I applied to law school. I knew I liked to read, write and argue, and law school took less time than English graduate school. I know I stand here today only because so many people invested so much in me when they had absolutely nothing to gain in return.”
She thanked her former colleagues, both in private practice and on the bench, as well as the judges before whom she used to appear. “I am grateful to have spent my career practicing primarily in Greene County with among the finest people and lawyers I know. I had the opportunity to learn from the best of the best by practicing law in front of the judges of the 31st circuit. Thank you ... for the excellent example you provided to me, even though you ruled against me more often than I would like.”
Gooch said she was grateful for Covington “taking a chance on me all those years ago,” thanking Covington for her example of “quiet confidence and professionalism. I will spend the rest of my career trying to live up to your example.”
Noting everyone tells her she has “big shoes to fill in following Judge Patricia Breckenridge,” Gooch said “of course everyone who says that is absolutely correct. ... but I will do my best to be a credit to her and her legacy of service.”
She closed by describing her first time in the Supreme Court’s Division I courtroom – not as a judge or lawyer or law clerk but as a law student competing in a moot court before judges who had stayed after hours for their event.
“I still remember walking into this magnificent building and courtroom,” Gooch said. “I remember sitting at the table and sinking into the large maroon chairs. ... We got to make arguments, the judges peppered us with questions, we got to use the same red, yellow and green lights as the lawyers, and it was awesome.” She said she still finds it “awesome” to enter the courtroom and wants to spend her career here demonstrating that same compassion and willingness to serve and give back those judges showed her so many years ago.
Original source can be found here.