On March 6, Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced the appointment of Thomas Albus, ’97, as Circuit Judge for the 21st Judicial Circuit in St. Louis County. He will fill the Circuit Judge vacancy created by the retirement of the Honorable Gloria Clark Reno. He was sworn in on April 24, 2020. Before becoming a judge, Albus served as First Assistant…

Tamar E. Hodges, ’17, an associate at Husch Blackwell in Jefferson City, was named membership chair of the Young Lawyer Division of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis. BAMSL held a virtual swearing-in ceremony for its 2020-21 officers on May 1, 2020. The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL) “seeks to maintain the highest professional standards among attorneys to…

William P. Lynch, ’13, was appointed the Newton County prosecuting attorney in May 2020. The Newton County office is in Neosho, Mo. He had been serving as the interim after Jake Skouby, ’87, was appointed associate circuit judge for the 40th Judicial Circuit in February 2020. Before his position in Newton County, Lynch was an assistant prosecuting attorney in Jasper…

Kayla Jackson-Williams, ’16, joined Rogers | Ehrhardt in Columbia, Mo., as an associate attorney. Previously she was an assistant public defender for the Missouri State Public Defender’s office for two years. Jackson-Williams specializes in litigation, insurance law, estate planning, business services and criminal…

Lucinda Luetkemeyer, ’11, is among Ingram’s “40 Under 40” in Kansas City for 2020. There probably aren’t many attorneys under 40 who have had two cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court based on arguments they have presented. But Lucinda Luetkemeyer, a partner at Kansas City-based law firm Graves Garrett LLC, has as part of the team that filed amicus briefs…

Brittany Barrientos, ’09, is among Ingram’s “40 Under 40” in the Kansas City area for 2020. A partner at Stinson LLP, Barrientos specializes in environmental law. The Westwood resident has experience dealing with the specialty “across the regulatory transactional and litigation spectrums,” according to her company biography, experience that has given her a deep understanding of the complexities of the…

Suzie Specker, ’16, has joined Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, in San Diego, Calif., as an associate. After graduation from Mizzou Law, Specker clerked for the Hon. Nanette Laughrey, ’75, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. She then went to practice for a firm in Kansas City. After a year practicing in Kansas City, she was…

Armstrong Teasdale announced that Of Counsel Kyle Gottuso, ’12, joined the firm’s St. Louis office in March 2020. He complements more than 530 attorneys and staff firm wide and adds to Armstrong Teasdale’s robust intellectual property litigation practice. Gottuso has a track record of success handling contentious intellectual property matters in U.S. District Courts across the country, as well as…

The Missouri Lawyers Media 2020 Women’s Justice Awards selection committee has chosen Stephanie Wan, ’06, chief assistant prosecuting attorney, Greene County (Mo.) Prosecutors Office, with the Public Service Award. This award recognizes women who work on behalf of a nonprofit organization, government agency or the judiciary; or have made their mark in education. Since 1999, the awards have celebrated extraordinary…