Chief Judge Catherine D. Perry announced today that the District Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri have selected Gregory J. Linhares as the next Clerk of Court. Linhares will assume the position when current Clerk, James G. Woodward, retires on June 30, 2014. The Clerk of Court reports to the Chief Judge and is responsible for managing the operational and administrative functions of the Court.
Gregory Linhares currently serves as the Missouri State Courts Administrator, a position he has held since 2008. As the Court Administrator, Linhares is responsibile for overseeing Missouri’s state court system, reporting to the Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court. “Greg Linhares has been an invaluable asset in leading our state courts, working with equal diligence with every level of Missouri’s judiciary, from court clerks in our smallest counties to Supreme Court judges,” Missouri Chief Justice Mary R. Russell said. “His insight has helped empower our local courts to implement innovative ideas, and he has provided tools that help us work as consistently and proficiently as possible throughout the state. Greg also has led the development of several new court technology tools, some of which are being built entirely in-house by his office’s technology staff, including the roll-out of electronic filing statewide. Greg has devoted himself through tireless work on the budget and fiscal oversight each year. We in the Missouri courts family will miss Greg, but we wish both him and the eastern district federal court all the best in their future endeavors together.”
According to Chief Judge Perry, Linhares emerged as the top candidate from an excellent pool of highly qualified applicants. “We are honored that such an experienced court administrator is joining our federal court,” said Judge Perry. “The state and federal courts face very similar issues, especially in these times of tightening budgets and diminishing resources, and Greg Linhares’ experience with the Missouri court system makes him ideally suited for the position.”
A native of St. Louis, Linhares earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., and his law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law. Following his graduation from law school, he worked as a staff attorney for the Missouri Joint Committee on Legislative Research, then as a legislative analyst for the Missouri House of Representatives and later chief of staff and counsel to the House Majority Floor Leader. He served as commission counsel and legislative liaison for the Missouri Supreme Court from 2002 until 2008.
Linhares has also served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps, 3rd Infantry Division and 8th Legal Support Organization. While deployed with the 3rd Infantry Division to Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, he supervised all legal assistance efforts at Hunter. During his military service he worked as legal assistance attorney, military prosecutor, ethics counselor and legal advisor to several Army Reserve detachments. He was awarded the Army Service Ribbon, the National Defense Service Ribbon, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” device, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. He was twice awarded both the Army Achievement Medal and the Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal.
Chief Judge Perry stated, “We look forward to Greg Linhares’ continuing the progress our court has made under the leadership of retiring Clerk Jim Woodward, who will be greatly missed. Jim Woodward served as our Clerk for 14 years, and saw us through a period of enormous change, including our moves to both the Thomas F. Eagleton Courthouse here in St. Louis and the Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr. Courthouse in Cape Girardeau. Under Jim’s leadership we were able to install electronic evidence presentation systems in all of our courtrooms, not only in the new buildings in St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, but also in our courthouse in Hannibal, Missouri. He oversaw our transition to electronic case filing, and organized numerous training sessions with lawyers in our district to help them use fully that important system. He organized many other continuing legal education programs that we have been able to provide to the local bar each year. Jim led our court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution program, which is widely recognized as one of the best in the country. Jim was also instrumental in the development of the Judicial Learning Center at the Eagleton Courthouse and in expanding the community outreach and education programs of our court. Under his leadership the Judicial Learning Center hosted more than three thousand students and visitors in 2013 alone. I am especially pleased that Jim will remain involved with the Learning Center by joining the Board of Directors of the not-for-profit Judicial Learning Center, the organization of St. Louis lawyers that made the Learning Center installation at the courthouse possible.”
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri serves 49 counties in the eastern half of Missouri. The judges in the Eastern District sit in St. Louis, Cape Girardeau, and Hannibal, Missouri. The court currently has seven active district judges, one district judge vacancy, three senior district judges, and seven magistrate judges.
