Nov. 3, 2022

Alumni Spotlight– Meet Judge-Elect Kayla Jackson-Williams

By Anna Sago With local and midterm elections coming up soon, the unopposed candidate for associate circuit judge in Boone County is already clear. When elected this November, Judge-Elect Kayla Jackson-Williams, an alumna of Mizzou Law, ‘16, will be the first Black Boone County judge in its more than 200-year history. “I didn’t realize how monumental that would be,” said Jackson-Williams. “I was at Roots & Blues with my daughter, and this little girl, maybe 8 years old, said, ‘Mommy, that’s that Black judge.’ and they walked over, and her mom said, ‘I’m sorry, we talk about you a lot,…

Sep. 20, 2022

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. After earning his JD from Wayne State University, Pappas worked as an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) fellow at Michigan State while he traveled weekly from Michigan to Columbia, Missouri for LLM classes at the Mizzou Law Center for Dispute Resolution. “When I embarked on my LLM, I planned to open…

Sep. 20, 2022

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 LLM in dispute resolution. “Before the LLM program, I was at a loss as to where my career should go next,” Pavlick said. “When my husband told me about the new program that was announced, I quickly chatted with the faculty and turned in an application the next day. I…

Sep. 15, 2022

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 by the president of The Missouri Bar, the annual award recognizes lawyers’ meritorious services to the state bar. McCarter is a founding member of Behr, McCarter, Potter, Neely & Hyde PC in St. Louis. He served as president of The Missouri Bar from 1992-1993 and St. Louis County Bar Association…

July 11, 2022

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 Goodman, ’98, began his term as chief judge for the Southern District on June 16. With these elections, and with Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Hon. Paul Wilson, ’92, being a Mizzou Law graduate, a Mizzou Law alumnus is chief judge in every appellate court in Missouri.

April 8, 2022

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 did exactly what I wanted to do (labor and employment law, rep­resenting management), he did it in a non-urban area (I did not want to go back to St. Louis, or to any other big city to practice law), and he had an impeccable professional repu­tation and was highly regarded…

March 29, 2022

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

Feb. 1, 2022

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 the time she spent within the Mizzou Law dispute resolution LLM program. “The LLM program gave me deep insights into what I really wanted to do and helped me carve my career as a leadership coach,” Rao said. “The foundation I received in the program in mindfulness and cross-cultural communication…

Oct. 25, 2021

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. Ashley Benoist, ’12; Susan Brown Miles, ’00; Lauren Collins, ’13; Brenda Hamilton, ’90; Meghan Lewis, ’09; Camille Roe, ’12; and Megan Stumph-Turner, ’08; were honored with the Litigation Practitioner Award as women who have made their careers in the courtroom — criminal or…

Sep. 28, 2021

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 serving as CEO and President of Engineering World Health, Rahhal says that the LLM program inspired her to “think outside of the box,” and encouraged her to leverage her skillset to her current position. Rahhal first came to Mizzou for a position at the College of Engineering.  She had previously…