Dec. 10, 2024

Alumni Spotlight — Meet Arsenio Mims

By Anna Sago In between his successful three years at Mizzou Law, where he served as the first Black editor-in-chief of any law journal (the Journal of Environmental and Sustainability Law), and his acceptance of a federal clerkship, Arsenio Mims was facing a difficult two months. Despite his success as a student, he had just become a full-time single parent of his son and his younger brother, and he was unable to begin employment at his clerkship until Sept. 1. But he also needed to put food on the table. “I went to [Mizzou Law financial aid adviser Jeff Turnbull’s]…

Oct. 11, 2024

Alumni Spotlight — Meet Erin Webber

By Anna Sago Growing up with her father, then a state court judge in Memphis, Mo., Erin Webber, ’96, remembers a different kind of dinnertime chats: pre-trial conferences. “He was appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court to handle a lot of cases around the state that were tricky. He was a circuit judge in small three rural counties, so he had time, and was an excellent jurist,” she recalled. “Back in the day, he would invite the prosecuting attorney and the defense lawyer over to our house, and they’d knock things out over whatever we were having for dinner.” Her…

Sep. 23, 2024

LLM Alumni Spotlight — Meet Mamello Victoria Kanapi

Discovering a fulfilling career path and obtaining the education to pursue that path can be a multi-year journey for many people. With the assistance of the University of Missouri School of Law LLM in Dispute Resolution program, Mamello Victoria Kanapi, ’24, managed to do both in less than two years.  Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Mamello began her higher education journey in Cape Town where she earned her law degree at the University of the Western Cape. While finishing her degree in South Africa, she applied for a scholarship program to earn her LLM at the University of Missouri. After…

Sep. 23, 2024

LLM Alumni Spotlight — Meet Mnotho Ngcobo

Growing up in South Africa, Mnotho Ngcobo, ’22, always knew he wanted to work in the U.S., though he was unsure of whether he wanted to pursue a profession in the field of law or education. As a Mizzou Law LLM graduate, and newly appointed assistant professor of law at the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, Ngcobo found a way to do both. “I used to tell my friends to enjoy our time together because one day, I’d leave for the U.S.,” Ngcobo said. “When applying for college, I chose between a Bachelor of Laws…

Sep. 23, 2024

LLM Alumni Spotlight — Meet Jose Abel Quezada

Jose Abel Quezada, ’24, has known that he wanted to dedicate his life to solving legal disputes with alternative dispute resolution (ADR) since he began his career as a law clerk working on complex arbitration cases. Now working in ADR as an associate at Cacheaux, Cavasos & Newton in his native Monterrey, Mexico, Quezada can point back to that earlier time as a turning point in his career path. “I realized the potential of ADR in solving legal disputes; considering litigation is overall useful but it is definitely not always the best way to solve a dispute,” Quezada said. “I…

Sep. 4, 2024

Alumni Spotlight — Meet Kristen Evans

Going into law school at the University of Missouri, Kristen Evans, ’22, already had her eyes on a coveted position after graduation: a federal clerkship. “I felt that it would be really resourceful to do,” Evans said. “[Judicial clerks] gain a lot of knowledge about how the courts work, and that includes learning the court system, learning how to cater your arguments, your motions, your orders, to judges’ preferences.” However, Evans felt discouraged by the pervasive message that clerkships were out of her reach. Outside of Evans’ friends and mentors at Mizzou Law, many emphasized the exclusivity of federal clerkships.

Aug. 12, 2024

Alumni Spotlight — Meet Keesha-Lu Abrahams-Mitra

by Anna Sago As the first female senior vice president and general counsel at State Farm, Keesha-Lu Abrahams-Mitra, ‘89, still finds herself relying on a skill she learned on her very first day of law school at Mizzou. “My very first day of law school — civil procedure,” Abrahams-Mitra said, “I happened to have Professor Carl Esbeck. My maiden name was Abrahams and he called on students alphabetically. So Pennoyer vs. Neff is indelibly etched in my mind, not necessarily positively.” Though Abrahams-Mitra can now laugh at her first-day cold call blunder, it taught her a valuable lesson that…

March 12, 2024

Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Russell ’83, Named a USA Today Woman of the Year

Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Russell ’83, has been named a 2024 Woman of the Year by USA Today. Read about her honor here: https://www.usatoday.com/women-of-the-year-2024.

March 5, 2024

Alumni Spotlight — Meet Maggy Carlyle

Growing up, Maggy Carlyle ’11, was always surrounded by football. She remembers cheering first for the Dallas Cowboys and later for the Chiefs after she and her family moved to Kansas City. After receiving a degree in strategic communications from the University of Missouri and spending time working as a teacher, Carlyle never saw herself working in sports — especially after she made the decision to return to Columbia to attend the University of Missouri Law School. “I didn’t go to law school thinking I would go into sports law. My only experience with law was litigation and criminal justice…

Feb. 22, 2024

Reaching Remarkable Heights: The Women of the Mizzou Law Class of 1996

The achievements of the women of the Mizzou Law class of 1996 have shone brightly this year: Kelly Broniec earned a Missouri Supreme Court appointment in 2023 making her one of six Mizzou Law alumni on the Missouri Supreme Court. Her appointment also contributed to making the Missouri Supreme Court a majority female bench. Additionally, Megan Phillips was elected president of the Missouri Bar Association, and many others continue to succeed in new and existing roles. Almost as admirable as their career trajectories is the strong bond many of these women have built and maintained in the nearly…