Legal pros switch public, private roles

As one set of black robes was set aside by a man who gave nine years to public service, another was donned for the first time Monday by a new judge coming to the bench from 21 years in private practice.

Raising his right hand and placing his left on a Bible held by his son and daughter, John P. Heisserer, 46, of Cape Girardeau was sworn into the office as the new circuit judge for Division II of the 32nd Judicial Circuit -- made up of Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties -- in a ceremony held at the Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau.

Heisserer repeated the oath of office recited by Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Stephen N. Limbaugh, a former 32nd circuit court judge. The courtroom overflowed with guests attending to wish a broadly smiling Heisserer well in his new job.

"It's been an exciting day," he said Monday evening. "I feel great."

Met 'countless' times

Heisserer was appointed by Gov. Bob Holden to fill a post left by former judge John W. Grimm, 40, of Cape Girardeau, who exited Friday to return to the Cape Girardeau law firm of Limbaugh, Russell, Payne & Howard as a partner.

The two men encountered one another across the bench "countless" times over the last nine years, Grimm said.

"Judge Heisserer has been one of the most active trial lawyers in this area," Grimm said of his successor. "I'm confident he'll carry those same abilities over as a judge."

Heisserer left a partnership at the Cape Girardeau firm of Rice, Spaeth, Heisserer, Summers and Remley, where he specialized in family law.

"I've seen what tears families apart," Heisserer said. "I've seen what keeps them together. And I think I can bring that experience to the courtroom and be helpful to those situations."

Heisserer takes the black robes that his former law partners gave him and what they represent seriously.

"It is an awesome responsibility," he said. "It's one that, frankly, you can spend several sleepless nights anguishing over your decisions. The decisions you make are not trivial, they do have impact and they are serious. I intend to take every case seriously."

Heisserer counts some of the circuit's former and present judges among his mentors and called his predecessor an "excellent judge."

Born in Chaffee, Mo., Heisserer is a 1975 graduate of Notre Dame Regional High School. He earned a degree in political science from Southeast Missouri State University in 1979 and a law degree in 1981 from Loyola University in New Orleans.

He will serve out nearly two years of Grimm's term until the next general election in 2004. In 2006, there will be an election for a full six-year term.

Grimm became the state's youngest circuit judge in December 1993 when then-Gov. Mel Carnahan appointed him to replace former judge A.J. Seier, who resigned. He was elected in November 1994 and re-elected unopposed to a second term in November 2000.

'Some apprehension'

Grimm said he hopes the switch from public to private work will be smooth.

"There's always some apprehension when you move from a job where you have so much comfort into something different," Grimm said.

Judges want those entering their courtrooms to believe they were treated objectively and that justice was handed out, he said.

"I hope, as I leave this job, the lawyers and litigants who appeared before me feel like I did those things," Grimm said. "I always tried to make the right decisions in every case."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160