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…

April 17, 2026

From Fieldwork to the Law: 1L Bridges Conservation and People

By: Tanner O’Neal Riley McKenna Thompson did not come to law school by way of a straight line. She came by way of forests and rivers — a path that began in wildlife biology and now runs through Missouri’s most privately held landscapes. A 1L at Mizzou Law, Thompson is the co-author of “Understanding Landowner Perceptions, Enhancing Conservation Easement Adoption in Missouri’s Priority Landscapes,” a peer-reviewed, scientific paper that grew out of her master’s thesis research in the School of Natural Resources. The work sits at the intersection of ecology, property rights and public policy, asking a fundamental question: how…

April 8, 2026

CALI Winners Awarded at 2026 Edna Nelson Banquet

The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) Excellence for the Future Awards recognize students with the highest grade in each course at Mizzou Law. These were awarded at the annual Edna Nelson Awards Banquet this April. Below are the CALI Award winners for the 2025 calendar year. A full list of all Edna Nelson award winners can be found here: Edna Nelson Program Spring 2025 CALI Winners Summer 2025 CALI Winners Fall 2025 CALI Winners…

April 7, 2026

Mizzou Law 3L publishes paper in American Bankruptcy Institute Journal

Brynna Smith, a 3L at Mizzou Law, recently published a paper in the student galley of the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, which is a significant organization in the bankruptcy field. Her paper, “Detroit v. Everybody: Governance Reform and the Limits of Chapter 9” explores Detroit’s descent from a thriving industrial city to the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. The piece suggests that Detroit’s experience may be especially significant at a time of increased debt and economic uncertainty. It analyzes how Chapter 9’s treatment of municipal bankruptcy contrasts with Chapter 11’s treatment of business…

April 6, 2026

Harbingers of Peace: 25 Years of the LL.M. in Dispute Resolution

by Tanner O’Neal Riley In 1999, the University of Missouri School of Law established the first LL.M. in dispute resolution program in the United States. At a time when most graduate law degrees focused on tax, finance or intellectual property, Missouri charted a different path: training lawyers not just to litigate disputes, but to resolve them. The choice was radical. The program grew out of intellectual groundwork laid years earlier at the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution, founded in 1984. Under leaders such as Len Riskin and later Professor John Lande, the center pushed legal education to confront…

March 23, 2026

Mizzou Law students shine in international negotiation competition

Two teams of Mizzou Law students excelled at the recent National Black Law Students Association Nelson Mandela International Negotiation Competition. The team of Shyann Sampson and Josie Johnson finished in third place out of 20 teams from across the country, while Mackenzie White and Samiat Solebo finished in the quarterfinals.

March 18, 2026

Mizzou Law named to Justice & Opportunity Honor Roll

Mizzou Law has been named to the National Jurist’s preLaw Magazine Opportunity & Justice Honor Roll. Mizzou Law is one of only 41 law schools from across the country that earned at least an A- grade for their commitment to initiatives, partnerships or strategies that reflect the mission of expanding access to legal education. The Justice & Opportunity Honor Roll recognizes law schools for leadership in expanding access to legal education. National Jurist’s criteria places emphasis on the structures, policies and programs law schools support that create pathways into the legal profession. The Honor Roll reflects leadership across four primary…

March 3, 2026

Mizzou Law teams excel in national moot court competition

Two Mizzou Law teams competed in the Global Antitrust Institute’s Moot Court Competition, which both teams reaching at least the quarterfinals. Competing against teams from some of the top law schools in the country, 2L Andrew Durham and 3L Thomas Yang reached the quarterfinals in the competition and also won the award for best brief in the entire competition. 3Ls Paige Harris and Luke Nutwell defeated a team from the University of Michigan to advance to the semi-finals, where they argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. That team lost to the eventual champion…

Feb. 24, 2026

Mizzou Law Mock Trial teams excel in regionals

Mizzou Law mock trial teams excelled at the recent National Trial Competition regional, hosted by Washburn University in Kansas. Mizzou Law’s two teams, Team Black and Team Gold competed against 24 teams from law schools across six states, including Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas and New Mexico. Team Black, featuring Rachel Carlson, Steven Flanders and Jordan Vitiello, won its first four trials, making it all the way to the Final Four before being narrowly defeated. Mizzou Law Team Black finished in the final four of the competition. Team Gold, featuring Grant Slusher, Dallas Welling and Grayson Henry, also…