April 28, 2026

Mizzou Law alumna honored with American Bar Association professionalism award

Portia Britt, ’15, was awarded the 2026 Rosner & Rosner Young Lawyers Professionalism Award recipient from the American Bar Association, one of the ABA’s premier honors recognizing excellence in legal ethics, professionalism and service. Britt currently serves as an assistant prosecuting attorney with the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, where she prosecutes serious felony matters, including homicides and domestic violence cases. Since returning to the office in September 2025, she has also been appointed to the office’s executive staff, contributing to administrative leadership, personnel matters and public outreach. As intern coordinator, she has strengthened the office’s summer…

April 27, 2026

Rich Kinder, ’68, honored with Golden Quill Award

Mizzou Law alumnus Rich Kinder, ’68, was honored by this spring with a Jefferson Club Golden Quill Alumni Excellence Award. Rich Kinder transformed his leadership ability into one of the most influential careers in American energy. As co-founder and executive chairman of Kinder Morgan, he helped build one of North America’s largest energy infrastructure companies, which transports approximately 40% of the natural gas used in the U.S.  Kinder’s impact extends well beyond business. He and his wife, Nancy, established the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy at Mizzou, which has grown into a globally recognized, nonpartisan leader in the study of America’s founding principles and their enduring relevance. In their home of Houston and beyond, the Kinders are equally recognized for their philanthropic commitment…

Nov. 17, 2025

Judge Mary Russell, ’83, honored with national Sandra Day O’Connor Award

Missouri Supreme Court judge and Mizzou Law alumna Mary Russell, ’83, has been honored by the National Judicial College with the 2025 Sandra Day O’Connor Award. This award is given annually to a judge or former judge who has demonstrated extraordinary service and commitment to justice. Russell has served two terms as chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court. She was recognized for her leadership and commitment to civics education, including visiting all 46 judicial circuits and writing monthly columns to explain court processes. Russell has also been integral in creating interactive programs like “You Be the Judge” to help…

May 8, 2025

Alumni Spotlight — Meet Gretchen Myers

by Anna Sago Growing up, Gretchen Myers, ’84, always viewed her father, a trial attorney and Mizzou Law graduate, as her hero. Now, after a long and decorated legal career, Myers will return to her and her father’s alma mater to deliver this year’s Mizzou Law commencement speech. Myers always admired her dad’s career as an attorney, calling him the “real life Atticus Finch.” But it was through debate and other public speaking in grade school and high school that her path was solidified. “I loved doing it. There was something about it that I found fun and exhilarating, when…

April 17, 2025

Remembering Zack

By Anna Sago When Andy Kasnetz’s son Zack Kasnetz, ’16, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly, in 2023, he and his family knew they wanted to use the tragedy to support a place that served as a launching point for their son: his alma mater Mizzou Law. “This became a really important starting point for him as an adult, both personally and professionally,” Andy said. “So, in that regard, it has a really special place in our lives.” Zack Kasnetz’s journey to law school wasn’t always linear, Andy explained. After growing up in St. Louis and attending school at the University…

March 24, 2025

Alumni Spotlight — Meet Bradley Craigmyle

By Anna Sago For Bradley Craigmyle ‘17, attending Mizzou Law was, at first, a question of value. As his legal career has continued, he has realized the true value of that choice. In February, Craigmyle was appointed to be Deputy General Counsel for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the federal agency that regulates communications by radio, television, wire and cable. He oversees all of the agency’s litigation Prior to that role, he worked as an attorney in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Department of Justice. Throughout his career, he has focused on administrative law. That interest was…

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 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…