Dick Dorr appointed to Western District judgeship

Dick Dorr has assumed a new mantle.

Dorr was installed Aug. 9 as a Federal District Court judge of the Western District of Missouri by Chief Judge Dean Whipple of the Western District in a private ceremony at the Charles Evans Whittaker Courthouse in Kansas City.

Dorr vacates the managing partner post he held at Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin for six years. Virginia Fry succeeds him as managing partner.

There are six active and two senior judges in the Western District. Dorr fills the sixth slot, which became vacant early in 2000 when Judge Brook Bartlett, another former Blackwell Sanders attorney, died of cancer.

The long road

The road to a federal judge's position is a circuitous route at best. Dorr was first recommended to the position in 1992 by Senator John Danforth and later nominated by then-President George Bush.

But elevation to the bench was not to be. Dorr attributed the political climate prevailing at the time the Clinton administration as the reason the process went no further.

"I never got to the hearing stage with the Senate Judiciary Committee."

This time, however, was different. I had "the good fortune of getting the recommendation to the president of the senior senator which would be Kit Bond of the party of the president." That was in May 2001.

From that point on, Dorr's life was an open book. His qualifications were scrutinized through background investigations. This was followed with a review by the White House Council's office and later inquiries by the FBI and Justice Department. After clearing all the essential hurdles, Dorr was nominated by President Bush in March.

After this came his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 23. He was voted out of committee on June 13. Finally, the full Senate voted Dorr's confirmation on Aug. 1.

The president completed the process with a signing, which cleared Dorr for his formal swearing-in.

David Agee's recent move from Neale & Newman to head Blackwell Sanders' corporate business group was done with the knowledge that Dorr's days were numbered at the firm, Agee said.

Bench duties

As an Article 3 judge, Dorr will handle criminal and civil court proceedings for the federal district courts. He said he will draw 90 percent of his civil cases and 100 percent of his criminal cases in Springfield. He will draw 10 percent of his civil cases in Kansas City.

Dorr said his upcoming case load, which is "the anticipated draw based on history," will be 153 civil cases, 96 prisoner cases and 56 criminal cases.

The first order of business for Dorr will be a week of classes beginning August 12 for phase one orientation training in Redondo Beach, Calif.

Dorr's annual salary will be about $150,000, said Ernie Blazar, spokesperson for Sen. Bond's office.

Judicious approach

Dorr has practiced law for 34 years and is a retired lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserves. He said he will most miss the client-attorney relationships he has developed over the course of his career.

"The biggest challenge will be to adjust to being a judge, as opposed to being a trial lawyer on the other side of the bench," Dorr said.

"Judges are there to ensure that the rules are followed and that people have a chance to try their side of the case in an orderly fashion ... if it goes beyond that where a judge gets active, then it can be disruptive."

There will be a formal investiture held in Springfield in September for Dorr's new judgeship.