March 5, 2024

Alumni Spotlight — Meet Maggy Carlyle

Growing up, Maggy Carlyle ’11, was always surrounded by football. She remembers cheering first for the Dallas Cowboys and later for the Chiefs after she and her family moved to Kansas City. After receiving a degree in strategic communications from the University of Missouri and spending time working as a teacher, Carlyle never saw herself working in sports — especially after she made the decision to return to Columbia to attend the University of Missouri Law School. “I didn’t go to law school thinking I would go into sports law. My only experience with law was litigation and criminal justice…

Feb. 22, 2024

Professors Trachtenberg and Alexander Publish Free Criminal Procedure Casebook

Professors Ben Trachtenberg and Anne Alexander have published “Criminal Procedure: A Free Law School Casebook” with the CALI eLangdell series. The series includes casebooks made available at no charge for digital files, and at the cost of printing for paper books. Authors include faculty from law schools such as Yale, Texas A&M, and the University of Washington. The book is available now for free download: https://www.cali.org/books/criminal-procedure-trachtenberg-alexander. CALI will soon make paper books available for purchase. In their book, Professors Trachtenberg and Alexander described the purpose of their project: “Universities exist to promote the search for knowledge and to transmit human knowledge to future…

Feb. 22, 2024

Reaching Remarkable Heights: The Women of the Mizzou Law Class of 1996

The achievements of the women of the Mizzou Law class of 1996 have shone brightly this year: Kelly Broniec earned a Missouri Supreme Court appointment in 2023 making her one of six Mizzou Law alumni on the Missouri Supreme Court. Her appointment also contributed to making the Missouri Supreme Court a majority female bench. Additionally, Megan Phillips was elected president of the Missouri Bar Association, and many others continue to succeed in new and existing roles. Almost as admirable as their career trajectories is the strong bond many of these women have built and maintained in the nearly…

Feb. 21, 2024

Mizzou Law 3L and Entrepreneur Opens Pop-Up Shop

Parker Owens, a Mizzou Law 3L student, entrepreneur and winner of the Mizzou Entrepreneur Quest Student Accelerator competition last fall, is opening a pop-up store for his business, Parker’s Brick Builds. The store will open from 9:30 a.m.- 2 p.m. on Feb. 21 in the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the MU Trulaske College of Business. Owens’ business, Parker’s Brick Builds, offers custom Lego kits to retailers and online to individuals.

Feb. 20, 2024

Professor Boyack Publishes Article in Attorney at Law Magazine

Professor Andrea Boyack, the Floyd R. Gibson Professor of Law at Mizzou Law published an article in Attorney at Law Magazine where she discussed a new plan to change consumer contract law. Read the full article here: https://attorneyatlawmagazine.com/legal/opinion/the-need-to-reshape-consumer-contract-law.

Feb. 15, 2024

Dean Sperino Publishes Article on Summary Judgments in Employment Discrimination Cases

Associate Dean Sandra Sperino has published an article on the McDonnell Douglas framework in the North Carolina Law Review. The McDonnell Douglas framework is the most important analytical structure in employment discrimination law. Scholars and judges have regularly criticized the three-part, burden-shifting test. Despite decades of criticism, a central feature of the framework remains unexamined—its second step is incompatible with the summary judgment standard. In employment discrimination cases, courts often grant summary judgment in the employer’s favor. Scholars have offered various accounts of why this happens, including docket pressures and published case law that focuses on grants of summary judgement.

Feb. 14, 2024

Mizzou Law Veterans Clinic Files Amicus Brief with United States Supreme Court

Attorneys in the Mizzou Law Veterans Clinic have filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in a crucial case awaiting consideration involving veterans seeking certiorari to challenge a decision made by the Federal Circuit.   The veterans in the case argue that the Federal Circuit erred in its judgment, contending that the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) must consult the complete agency record in every case to determine the proper application of the benefit-of-the-doubt rule. This rule, rooted in a longstanding history and codified by Congress, is a vital safeguard for veterans seeking…

Feb. 13, 2024

Dean Sperino Cited in JOTWELL

Associate Dean Sandra Sperino‘s article, The Causation Canon, published last year in the Iowa Law Review, was cited in JOTWELL, a blog aimed at highlighting excellent legal scholarship. In JOTWELL, Joseph Seiner writes: “In The Causation Canon, Professor Sandra Sperino performs a superb analysis of the Supreme Court’s evolving analysis of causation standards. The piece carefully synthesizes the decisions in this area, identifying a new canon of statutory interpretation now used by the Court – coined by Professor Sperino as the ‘Causation Canon.'” To read the full entry, visit: https://worklaw.jotwell.com/the-supreme-courts-evolving-and-dubious-view-on-causation/…

Feb. 8, 2024

Mizzou Law Student, Assistant Dean Emeritus, Win Carnahan Awards

Walter Jackson, 3L and Assistant Dean Emeritus Bob Bailey, will be honored today, Feb. 8, with Mel Carnahan Awards. Walter Jackson is receiving the Carnahan Award for Legal Scholarship while Dean Bob Bailey is receiving the Carnahan Award for Public Service at the Governor’s Mansion in Jefferson City. The Mel Carnahan Award is an initiative of the Carnahan Policy Institute. Each year, the institute grants the award to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in education, law and public service in Missouri. The institute also provides scholarships to students attending the Truman School of Government…

Feb. 7, 2024

Associate Dean Sperino Publishes New Edition of Federal Employment Discrimination Law Book

Associate Dean Sandra Sperino has published the 10th edition of her book, “Federal Law of Employment Discrimination in a Nutshell” this February. Dean Sperino’s book is designed to assist students—both law and undergraduate—to achieve a basic understanding of the complex area of federal employment discrimination law, and provide an up-to-date review for the practitioner. The focus is upon Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (race, national origin, sex, and religious discrimination), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act as applied to the workplace. The book addresses the method of proving…