Commentary: Taking Your Case to the Appellate Emergency Room

Filing a writ petition is a lot like going to the emergency room. How quickly you get relief depends on your injury’s urgency and severity.

What brings you to urgent care today?

First, there is the presentation of symptoms. In a one-page synopsis (writ summary), you identify yourself (relator), your injury (the unfavorable ruling), and who hurt you (respondent). As with any urgent care facility, there’s a lot of paperwork — the petition, suggestions in support, and (often voluminous) exhibits.

Once all your paperwork is in order, you make it past the clerk’s desk and are rushed into an exam room. What kind of relief can you expect? That depends on what kind of writ you are seeking. Article V, Section 4 of the Missouri Constitution authorizes the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court to issue extraordinary original remedial writs, and there are multiple types.

The most commonly sought writs in civil matters are prohibition (from the Latin prohibitio) to stop the circuit court from doing something and mandamus (Latin for “we command”) to make the circuit court do something. A writ of prohibition is meant “to prevent an abuse of judicial discretion, to avoid irreparable harm to a party, or to prevent exercise of extra-jurisdictional power.” State ex rel. Schwarz Pharma, Inc. v. Dowd, 432 S.W.3d 764, 768 (Mo. banc 2014). A writ of mandamus is intended “to compel the performance of a ministerial duty that one charged with the duty has refused to perform.” Furlong Cos. v. City of Kansas City, 189 S.W.3d 157, 165 (Mo. banc 2006). For example, a circuit court may be prohibited from taking any action other than to transfer venue, State ex rel. Monsanto Co. v. Mullen, 672 S.W.3d 235, 241 (Mo. banc 2023), or a circuit court may be ordered to transfer venue back to where it was, State ex rel. ArchCity Defenders., Inc. v. Whyte, 705 S.W.3d 116, 119 (Mo. App. E.D. 2025). If you’re looking at an unfavorable ruling and torn between seeking a writ of prohibition or mandamus, you might seek both in the alternative and leave the determination to the reviewing court’s discretion. See State ex rel. Chassaing v. Mummert, 887 S.W.2d 573, 577 (Mo. banc 1994).

In criminal matters, incarcerated persons may file a writ of habeas corpus (Latin for “you have the body”) to bring themselves to court to challenge the legality of their detention. After exhausting state court relief, habeas corpus relief may be sought in federal court.

Other writs include quo warranto and certiorari. A writ of quo warranto (Latin for “by what authority”) challenges someone’s right to hold an office. A writ of certiorari (Latin for “to be more fully informed”) seeks judicial review of a lower court’s decision.

In addition to general appellate writ procedures in Missouri Supreme Court Rules 84.22 through 84.24, each of these writs have specific guidelines in Rules 91 through 100. Be on the lookout for local rules as well.

Vitals check

The initial exam is quick. There may even be same-day results at the appellate level.

If your wound appears severe, a preliminary stay may be put in place to stop the bleeding while the reviewing court assesses the situation in more depth, including taking a statement from the respondent. Even if the respondent is not ordered to answer, they may choose to file suggestions in opposition within ten days of the petition being filed. When the respondent is the circuit court, the briefing is usually written by the opposing party’s counsel on the court’s behalf in defense of the ruling.

Just a flesh wound…

Keep in mind that serious injuries are not always urgent injuries when it comes to writs. Your injury will not be treated by emergency writ if it can be addressed at a regularly scheduled appointment (i.e., an appeal from a final judgment). Under Rule 84.22(a), writs will not be issued where relief can be afforded by direct appeal or by application to a lower court. The rush to the emergency room and flurry of paperwork may leave you feeling exhausted, but you will only be offered permanent writ relief if you have exhausted all other avenues.

Rapid results that are negative can be discouraging, especially if explanatory lines are faint or nonexistent. But a writ denial at the Court of Appeals could be followed by writ relief in the Supreme Court, so you may choose to file again.

And this is where the analogy ends, because unlike treatment of an injury in a hospital setting, relief via writ is rarely granted — not because the injury is just in your head (although it might be), but because most challenges to the circuit court’s actions are properly pursued in appellate review of final judgments and not in this form of “extraordinary” relief.

Attorney Stefanie G. Brody joined Sandberg Phoenix in 2025 and is a member of the firm’s Business Litigation Practice group.