Merrill E. Otis (July 7, 1884 – December 23, 1944) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 6/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 26/year
Missouri Western District Court · 1925–1944
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
U.S. Department of JusticeAssistant to the solicitor general · 1924–1925- Missouri Public Service CommissionChairman · 1923–1924
- State of MissouriFirst assistant attorney general · 1921–1923
- Private practice, St. Joseph, Missouri1911–1921
- St. Joseph, MissouriFirst assistant prosecutor · 1917–1918
- St. Joseph, MissouriFirst assistant city counselor · 1915–1916
- Candidate for U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri1914
Appointments
1925–1944 · Appointed by Calvin Coolidge (Republican)Term ended: Death
Education
- University of MissouriA.M. · 1910
- University of Missouri School of LawLL.B. · 1910
- University of MissouriA.B. · 1906