(Featured photo, from left to right: Benjamin Lipman, Lisa Hardwick, W. Brent Powell)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The seven-person Appellate Judicial Commission narrowed the list of applicants to take over the empty seat on the Missouri Supreme Court bench from 31 down to three Wednesday evening.
Gov. Eric Greitens will choose between Judge Lisa White Hardwick, Benjamin A. Lipman and Judge W. Brent Powell to be his final nominee to the seat vacated by the late Judge Richard Teitelman. He is required to pick one of the three within the next 60 days, likely after meeting with all of them personally.
Lipman is a member of the illustrious Lewis Rice law firm based in St. Louis and earned his law degree from Washington University. Hardwick serves on the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals and has her law degree from Harvard Law School. Powell is a circuit judge in Jackson County and earned his law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law.
The process from the Appellate Judicial Division is further outlined here, but the selection of these three candidates came after 10 hours of public testimony, nearly four hours of deliberation by the commission and seven rounds of voting.
Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court Patricia Breckenridge chaired the commission.
This story is developing and will be updated accordingly.
