July 18, 2025

Criminal Practice Clinic Prepares Mizzou Law Students for the Courtroom and Beyond

In just its first full year of operation, the University of Missouri School of Law’s Criminal Practice Clinic is earning praise from students, judges and attorneys across the state for preparing graduates to hit the ground running in the courtroom. Launched in the fall of 2024 as a replacement for the long-standing Innocence Clinic, the Criminal Practice Clinic (CPC) offers third-year law students a full-year, hands-on experience in criminal litigation, combining a rigorous classroom curriculum with real-world practice under Missouri’s Rule 13 certification. Professor Chelseá R. Mitchell, director of the clinic and a former public defender, designed CPC to…

July 17, 2025

Professors Lietzan, Vacca, Conklin added to leadership team

University of Missouri School of Law Dean Paul Litton has announced three new appointments to his leadership team: Professor Erika Lietzan has been named Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development; Professor Ryan Vacca will serve as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; and Professor Carli Conklin will serve as Director of the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution. “I’m thrilled to add such accomplished scholars and teachers to our leadership team,” Dean Litton said. “Professor Lietzan brings an outstanding record of scholarship and mentoring to the position. She will support our first-rate scholars and foster a…

July 7, 2025

Legal lift: Mizzou law clinic helps small business take next step

When Dana Chole, BS ’11, DPT ’14, and her partners at Switched Adapted Toys had taken their small startup as far as they could, the team of two physical therapists and an entrepreneur knew it was time to grow and establish themselves as a nonprofit — but they didn’t have the resources to make that happen on their own. They had already invested everything they had into their online business, which offers tutorials on how to adapt toys for children with disabilities. The demand for their services was clear, and they were determined to meet it. A quick Google search…

June 10, 2025

Melissa Cullman Cosgrove ,’13, named U.S. Supreme Court Fellow

Melissa Cullman Cosgrove, ’13, was named a 2025-2026 U.S. Supreme Court Fellow assigned to the Federal Judicial Center, the education and research agency for the federal courts. Cosgrove joins the Supreme Court Fellows Program from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, where she was a career law clerk for the Honorable Stephen R. Welby. She previously clerked for the Honorable Stephen R. Clark and the Honorable E. Richard Webber of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. She was also an Assistant Attorney General in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. Cosgrove…

June 10, 2025

Child and Family Justice Clinic welcomes new staff attorney

The Mizzou Law Child and Family Justice Clinic welcomes Erika LeFauve, ’25, as a new staff attorney. LeFauve just graduated from Mizzou Law in May and has begun work with the clinic in a limited capacity while she studies for the Missouri Bar Exam. Once she passes the exam, she will begin full-time work as an attorney for the clinic in it’s new Roots of Resilience program. The Roots of Resilience: Rural Families Initiative is the new program the clinic is starting in August, which will expand the CFJC’s service area to include Audrain, Cole, and Moniteau counties.

June 9, 2025

Professor Oliveri publishes essay on sexual harassment in housing

Professor Rigel Oliveri recently published an essay, “Legal and Policy Responses to Sexual Harassment in Housing,” in the Connecticut Law Review. Her piece was part of a symposium put on by the Connecticut Law Review on the subject of Fair Housing in the 21st Century. To read the full essay, visit: https://connecticutlawreview.law.uconn.edu/2025/06/03/legal-and-policy-responses-to-sexual-harassment-in-housing/

June 5, 2025

Rising 3L speaks at KC Student Law Academy

Myuah Hamilton, a rising 3L at Mizzou Law, presented this summer at the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Foundation Student Law Academy for high school students. Hamilton spoke about her my journey through undergraduate and into law school to the newest cohort of the academy, which consists of 25 high school students from KC Metro schools who are considering a profession in the law. This was full circle moment for Hamilton, considering that she sat in the same seats as the scholars six years ago as an attendee of the Student Law Academy herself. “Being on the other side of…

June 3, 2025

Professor Henson and her twin sister featured in Missouri Bar Journal

Professor Renee Henson was featured along with her twin, Naomi Buie, in the latest issue of the Journal of the Missouri Bar. Both Professor Henson and Buie are lawyers who have practiced in the Kansas City area. To read the full story, visit: https://news.mobar.org/double-vision-double-impact-twin-lawyers-unique-paths-converge/

June 3, 2025

ELC Director Don Seitz presents to veterans

Don Seitz, professor and director of the Mizzou Law Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic presented to veterans from across the nation as a part of the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans. In his presentation, Professor Seitz discussed legal issues for new entrepreneurs to be aware of and address when starting their new businesses. The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV) national program is a novel, one-of-a-kind initiative designed to leverage the skills, resources and infrastructure of higher education to offer cutting-edge, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with a passion for entrepreneurship. The aim of the program is…

May 30, 2025

Professor Lietzan appointed to ACUS administrative committee

Professor Erika Lietzan has been appointed as the chair of the Committe on Administration & Management of the Administrative Conference of the United States(ACUS).  Her service in this capacity begins on July 1, 2025. ACUS is a federal agency tasked with identifying and promoting improvements in the efficiency, adequacy and fairness of the procedures by which federal agencies conduct regulatory programs, administer grants and benefits, protect the public interest and perform other essential governmental functions. Lietzan previously was a public member of ACUS and a member of a different committee. The committee she will be chairing considers issues that affect the efficiency…