Nov. 9, 2022

Mizzou Law Students, Professor Submit Amicus Brief for SCOTUS Cases

A national team of attorneys along with a team of Mizzou Law students have co-written an amicus curiae brief filed by the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys with the U.S. Supreme Court in Haaland v. Brackeen. Mizzou Law students burned much midnight oil research the issues while meeting the time deadline and word count imposed by SCOTUS. Two of the brief’s student authors, Betsy Smith and Logan Moore, are traveling to Washington, DC to watch in-person when SCOTUS hears the three cases on Nov. 9. Passed by Congress in 1978, ICWA mandates that states notify tribes when entertaining…

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,…

Nov. 2, 2022

Are Drug Companies the Villain?

For years, brand drug companies have been villainized for “evergreening” or manipulating the law to extend the period of exclusivity for drugs beyond their 20-year patent — a practice critics say unfairly prevents competition from generic drug companies and that has prompted legislators to consider significant reform to policies that govern the pharmaceutical industry. But an audit of more than 200 drugs by a University of Missouri researcher found generic versions of all the drugs were available before their patents expired, raising questions about data being used by policymakers to prove evergreening exists. According to the new study, a comprehensive…

Oct. 12, 2022

Mizzou Law Blazing Trails for 150 Years

To honor its rich tradition of excellent legal education over its 150 years of existence, Mizzou Law is proud to launch its newest project, the Mizzou Law Trailblazers timeline. The timeline honors dozens of “trailblazers” throughout the school’s past and present who achieved amazing things and are continuing to make an impact; it also highlights several notable events in Mizzou Law’s long history. The timeline is the brainchild of Professor S. David Mitchell and law librarian Cindy Bassett. The project was inspired by a law student mentioning that students who attend the law school that denied admission…

Oct. 4, 2022

Staff Spotlight — Meet Sarah Reesman

Bright lights. The roar of a crowd. The sound of the marching band and the announcer echoing across the field. These are all things typically associated with Mizzou Athletics. One thing that might not come to mind? The law. While Sarah Reesman loved the nearly three decades she spent working in the Mizzou athletics department, she jumped at the opportunity to move to Mizzou Law’s Career Development Office. She is excited to begin counseling students, helping them narrow down their legal and professional interests and find non-traditional career opportunities similar to the one she found in athletics. After Sarah Reesman…

Oct. 3, 2022

Prof. David English Honored as ABA Advocate of the Month

David English, the William Franklin Fratcher Endowed Professor of Law and the Edward L Jenkins Professor of Law at the MU School of Law, was honored as the September Advocate of the Month by the American Bar Association in their monthly Washington Letter newsletter. From the ABA’s Washington Letter: “We are proud to honor David English as our Advocate of the Month for September 2022 for his work on reforming the nation’s guardianship system, a task on which he has been continually engaged since 1987. He currently serves as Chair of the National Guardianship Network, which is a coalition of…

Sep. 29, 2022

A Historic Success!

Mizzou football wasn’t the only team working overtime this weekend. This year, Mizzou’s law school rings in its 150th anniversary. To celebrate, members of a planning committee organized a watch party for the Saturday morning Mizzou-Auburn game. “The 150th only comes around once,” said Bob Langdon, ‘72. “We had a lot of people involved. It’s just a chance for the law students to come back, meet everybody, and see what’s going on- there’s a lot of great things going on in the law school.” The event had 21 community sponsors. The event was held in the Hearnes Center auditorium,…

Sep. 28, 2022

Faculty Spotlight — Meet Prof. Rachel Wechsler

When Professor Rachel Wechsler and her husband Steven Evers moved to Columbia from the hustle and bustle of New York this summer, the first thing they did was begin to explore the many walking paths and biking trails. Professor Wechsler accepted a professorship at the University of Missouri School of Law after experiencing Columbia’s small-town charm and the strong sense of community among Mizzou Law students and faculty. “This is a really supportive community, a really vibrant community,” she said. “I wake up every day thinking about how lucky I am to be here.” Her move to Missouri was an…

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…