Category: Alumni Spotlight

a photo of brian pappas

LLM Alumni Spotlight — Brian Pappas

For a man who never imagined a career in higher education, Brian Pappas, LLM ’08, has managed to reach the pinnacle of legal education. Stepping into the deanship of the North Dakota School of Law in July, Pappas’ journey to this level of leadership began with his own legal education. Read More

a photo of donna pavlick

LLM Alumni Spotlight — Donna Pavlick

In 1999, Donna Pavlick was at a crossroads. The health care company she managed in Springfield, Missouri had just been sold and her position eliminated. Soon after, her husband, who worked at the University of Missouri, told her about a new degree program just announced by Mizzou Law — an… Read More

Four Mizzou Law Alumni Honored with Missouri Bar Awards

Four Mizzou Law alumni have been honored with Missouri Bar awards during the 2022 Missouri Bar Annual Meeting in Springfield, Missouri. Dudley McCarter, ’75 W. Dudley McCarter earned the 2022 Missouri Bar President’s Award for his commitment to educating lawyers through his Journal of The Missouri Bar column. Given… Read More

a photo of Hon. Michael E. Gardner

Mizzou Law Alumni Now Hold All Chief Judge Seats in Missouri Appellate Courts

This summer, the judges of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, elected Hon. Gary D. Witt, ’90, as chief judge, and the Eastern District judges elected Hon. Michael E. Gardner, ’10, to serve as chief judge. Both began their terms July 1. The Hon. Jack… Read More

a photo of paul king

Gone the Influencer, Not the Influence

One of the five job offers I had coming out of law school was the one “everyone” wan­ted.  I turned it down.  Instead, I chose the job offer out of the five that paid the least.  That brought me to Springfield, Missouri and Ransom A. Ellis, Jr.  Why? Because he… Read More

a photo of Elizabeth Kaganda teaching Swahili

Mizzou Law LLM Student/Alumna Brings Legacy of Advocacy to the Classroom

Elizabeth Kaganda, who earned her LLM in dispute resolution from Mizzou Law and is currently pursuing an LLM in American law at Mizzou Law, also teaches Swahili at Mizzou. Read this great story about Elizabeth in the Columbia Missourian: https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/kaganda-brings-legacy-of-advocacy-to-the-classroom/article_8445ba6c-a0c1-11ec-850a-0be3dc867a92.html

a photo of Sharanya Rao

LLM Alumna Spotlight — Sharanya Rao

After years in the legal field, Sharanya Rao, LLM ’03, decided she wanted to pursue a career path where she could help people gain clarity and fulfilment in their professional lives. Rao says pivoting from a career in law to a career in coaching was made possible in part by… Read More

a photo collage of all 12 2021 WLA award winners

13 Mizzou Law Alumnae Honored with 2021 Women’s Justice Awards

Thirteen Mizzou Law alumnae were among the women honored by Missouri Lawyers Media with 2021 Women’s Justice Awards. Whittney Dunn, ’11, and Amy Moore Harris, ’10, were honored with the Corporate Award as women who serve as general or in-house counsel, advising businesses on complex legal matters. Read More

a photo of tojan rahhal

LLM Alumna Spotlight — Tojan Rahhal

The fields of engineering and dispute resolution may not seem to be a natural combination. For Tojan Rahhal, ’20, however, the LLM in Dispute Resolution program at the University of Missouri School of Law was the perfect transition to prepare her for a leadership position in the engineering field. Now… Read More

a photo of sentebale makara

LLM Alumnus Spotlight — Sentebale Makara

Living in his home of Johannesburg, South Africa, Sentebale Makara, ’11, is enjoying a flourishing career as the director at the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa. He specializes in construction, engineering, mining and energy disputes with experience in arbitration procedures and alternative dispute resolution. Makara attributes much of… Read More