May 12, 2025

3L Graduate Spotlight — Jessica Esguerra

By Anna Sago Before entering law school, Jessica Esguerra knew that she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps by serving in the military. Now a graduating 3L, Esguerra will further her service by working as a staff attorney at Mizzou Law’s Veterans Clinic and continue serving in the Missouri Air National Guard in a new role. Growing up, Esguerra knew she wanted to be a lawyer. However, after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, she wanted to serve in the military first. Though Esguerra initially planned to finish her service and go into health law after earning…

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…

May 7, 2025

Professor Emeritus Esbeck publishes blog on First Amendment church autonomy

Carl Esbeck, the R.B. Price Professor Emeritus and the Isabella Wade & Paul C. Lyda Professor Emeritus at Mizzou Law, published a new blog post regarding the First Amendment and church autonomy. The piece, titled “The Ministerial Exception’s Unrealized Promise of Early and Straightforward Resolution of Church Autonomy Matters” was posted on The Federalist Society’s website. To read the full piece, visit: https://fedsoc.org/commentary/fedsoc-blog/the-ministerial-exception-s-unrealized-promise-of-early-and-straightforward-resolution-of-church-autonomy-matters.

May 6, 2025

Mizzou Law 3L wins Women’s Justice Award

Karen Crouch, 3L, won the Leaders of Tomorrow Award at the Women’s Justice Awards Banquet hosted by Missouri Lawyers Media. The Leaders of Tomorrow award is given to women law students who demonstrate leadership, professionalism and a passion for making a difference in the justice system or the legal profession. To read more about Karen, visit: https://molawyersmedia.com/2025/04/09/wja-2025-leaders-of-tomorrow-karen-crouch/…

May 5, 2025

3L earns prestigious national trial advocacy award

Ethan Deimeke, a 3L at Mizzou Law, has been selected as an Academic All-American Trial Advocate by the National Association of Legal Advocacy Educators (NALAE).  This prestigious award is based on several factors, including competition success, academic achievement, and leadership in one’s law school and community. Only 20 of these awards were given to law students across the country in 2025.

May 2, 2025

Professor Oliveri authors op-ed on affordable housing

Professor Rigel Oliveri, a fair housing law expert, published an op-ed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about potential legislation interacting with local communities’ efforts to create affordable housing. Read the op-ed on the Post-Dispatch site…

May 1, 2025

Professor Oliveri publishes article on housing sexual harassment

Professor Rigel Oliveri published an article on housing sexual harassment in the latest issue of the Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Law. Her article, titled “Housing Sexual Harassment: A Department of Justice Case Study” analyzes every housing sexual harassment case filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. To read her article in the journal, visit: https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/journal_of_affordable_housing/ahv33n2-3.pdf…

April 30, 2025

Mizzou Law student research earns third place at graduate/professional council forum

Mizzou Law 3L Georgia Bronson, an executive member of the Business, Entrepreneurship, and Tax Law Review, presented her research: “Hey Girlie, Want to Sell Your Soul?” How the U.S. Can Counteract Predatory Cult Activities Through the Lens of Fraudulent Business Schemes at the 41st Research & Creative Activities Forum (RCAF) 2025. Her research article was published in the most recent issue of BETR, which can be read here. Bronson earned third place for her research in the humanities, socials, and liberal arts division. She was the only law student to be accepted and able to present within the whole forum as they focused…

April 29, 2025

Professor Oliveri speaks on fair housing law

Professor Rigel Oliveri served as keynote speaker for the Missouri Women’s Council of Realtors annual meeting where she spoke on issues in Fair Housing Law. https://thelanding.missourirealtor.org/spring/special-events/wcr-meeting…

April 24, 2025

Professor Renee Henson publishes article on insurance and AI

Professor Renee Henson recently published “Government-Backed Insurance for Artificial Intelligence Technologies” in the Georgia State University Law Review, where she examines the widening gap between rapidly advancing artificial intelligence technologies and existing insurance frameworks. Focusing on high-risk applications such as autonomous vehicles and AI-driven healthcare systems, she argues that traditional insurance models provide inadequate liability coverage. Drawing on the precedent of the Price-Anderson Act—which created a federal insurance scheme for the nuclear energy sector—Henson proposes a government-backed model to address limitations in existing liability coverage for AI-related harms. To read the full article, visit: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5226107…