Richard Finneran

Richard E. Finneran is an instructor in constitutional law, criminal procedure, and appellate advocacy and head coach of the National Moot Court Team. In 15 years of coaching, Professor Finneran has helped coach his teams to nine national championships in moot court competitions, including the William E. McGee Civil Rights Moot Court Competition (2009-2011), the Evan A. Evans Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition (2016), the Judge John R. Brown Admiralty Moot Court Competition (2017), the William B. Spong Invitational Moot Court Competition (2018, 2020), and, most notably, the ABA’s National Appellate Advocacy Competition (2012), the largest and most competitive moot court competition in the country. In 2018, the National Moot Court Team again reached the final round of the ABA NAAC and was recognized for having the top speaker in the nation.

Professor Finneran has been honored three times as the Adjunct Professor of the Year by the Student Bar Association, first as its inaugural recipient in 2013, and subsequently in 2017 and 2022. Professor Finneran is also a partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, where his practice focuses on white collar criminal investigations and civil litigation. Formerly an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, Professor Finneran has twice received statewide recognition for his work as a federal prosecutor. In 2014, Professor Finneran received Missouri Lawyers Weekly’s Legal Champion Award for his role in prosecuting the largest criminal fraud in the history of the Eastern District of Missouri. In 2016, Professor Finneran was recognized by the Missouri Bar Foundation as a recipient of the David J. Dixon Appellate Advocacy Award, which recognizes excellence in appellate practice by a member of the Missouri Bar.

Click here to read Professor Finneran’s full bio at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP.