News Archive
May 11, 2022
Seizing opportunities
Mnotho Ngcobo has always been ambitious, hardworking, motivated and optimistic. But even he was surprised by the positive chain of events that led him to the University of Missouri en route to a master of laws degree. Ngcobo’s Tiger story started in May 2021 with the news that he had landed the prestigious Ivan Rugema Fellowship, a program that brings students from the University of the Western Cape to Mizzou. Ngcobo — who grew up in Durban, a city in KZN province of South Africa — had applied to numerous scholarship programs only to receive rejection letters. “I felt like…
April 22, 2022
Paul Litton Named Interim Dean of Mizzou Law
University of Missouri Provost Latha Ramchand has announced that Paul Litton, associate dean for faculty research and R. B. Price Professor of Law will serve as interim dean of Mizzou Law. This appointment follows the announcement that Lyrissa Lidsky, dean and Judge C.A. Leedy Professor of Law at Mizzou Law will step down from the deanship on July 4. Dean Litton will assume the office on that day. “Over the last several weeks, we received input from a variety of constituents, including faculty, staff, and alumni, on the interim appointment,” said Provost Ramchand. “This collective input, along with Paul Litton’s…
April 20, 2022
Mizzou Law Announces Additional New Faculty Hires for Fall 2022
Officials at the University of Missouri School of Law are continuing the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the school by announcing two exciting new faculty hires joining the ranks of the nationally renowned faculty scholars and teachers at Mizzou Law. Lauren Shores Pelikan, a senior manager of global tax planning at Emerson in St. Louis and Yunsieg P. Kim, a law clerk at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, will be joining the faculty at Mizzou Law in time to begin teaching classes in the Fall 2022 semester. “We are thrilled to welcome these accomplished…
April 14, 2022
2021-2022 CALI Awards
CALI Excellence for the Future Award Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction Highest grade in courses SPRING 2021 ADVANCED TRIAL PRACTICE Luke Hawley ADVOCACY & RESEARCH § 1A Jessica Davis ADVOCACY & RESEARCH § 1B Noelle Mack ADVOCACY & RESEARCH § 2A Matthew Thomas ADVOCACY & RESEARCH § 2 Jaycob Simsheuser ADVOCACY & RESEARCH § 3A Jessica Hylton Rachel Taylor ADVOCACY & RESEARCH § 3B Peyton Rosencrants Elizabeth Smith ANTITRUST Jarred Boyer ARBITRATION Lauren Rundall CIVIL…
April 12, 2022
MU professor says Google v. Oracle case leaves fair use ‘muddy’
The case of Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. pitted two giant technology companies against each other. On the line was potentially billions of dollars in profits as well as the future of some of the world’s most widely used pieces of software. After more than a decade of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that Google did not violate copyright laws by including 11,500 lines of code from Java (which is owned by Oracle) in its own Android operating system. It was the first time the court updated fair use precedents since 1994 and one of the…
April 8, 2022
Gone the Influencer, Not the Influence
One of the five job offers I had coming out of law school was the one “everyone” wanted. I turned it down. Instead, I chose the job offer out of the five that paid the least. That brought me to Springfield, Missouri and Ransom A. Ellis, Jr. Why? Because he did exactly what I wanted to do (labor and employment law, representing management), he did it in a non-urban area (I did not want to go back to St. Louis, or to any other big city to practice law), and he had an impeccable professional reputation and was highly regarded…
April 7, 2022
MU Law Veterans Clinic surpasses milestone: $10 million for veteran-clients
April 7, 2022 Contact: Sara Diedrich, 573-882-3243, DiedrichS@missouri.edu The University of Missouri School of Law Veterans Clinic recently surpassed more than $10 million in disability benefits returned for its clients. The clinic, which opened in 2014, is staffed by Mizzou law students under the supervision of lawyers specializing in veteran law. The Veterans Clinic team appeals denied benefits cases to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a lengthy process that takes an average of five years. Angela Drake is director of the Veterans Clinic, which has assisted more than 600 veteran clients. She said an important part of…
April 6, 2022
Making a Difference One Can of Paint at a Time
Painting walls, refinishing furniture, building bookshelves: activities not commonly associated with earning a legal education. For Mizzou Law 2L Brandon Bethel however, working to improve his environment is something that comes second nature to him. “It really serves as a creative outlet for me,” Bethel said. “Much of law school doesn’t tap that creative vein, so redesigning spaces to improve our learning and living environment helps serve that purpose for me.” In his less than two years at Mizzou Law, Bethel has been a driving force in improving the physical environment throughout Hulston Hall. Reimagining the space in in the…
March 29, 2022
Mizzou Law LLM Student/Alumna Brings Legacy of Advocacy to the Classroom
Elizabeth Kaganda, who earned her LLM in dispute resolution from Mizzou Law and is currently pursuing an LLM in American law at Mizzou Law, also teaches Swahili at Mizzou. Read this great story about Elizabeth in the Columbia Missourian: https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/kaganda-brings-legacy-of-advocacy-to-the-classroom/article_8445ba6c-a0c1-11ec-850a-0be3dc867a92.html
March 21, 2022
Mizzou Law 3L in Washington DC to Support Confirmation of Supreme Court Judge
Niya Young, a Mizzou Law 3L, is spending the week in Washington to support the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the next U.S. Supreme Court justice. Young is joining more than 100 law students from 17 law schools around the country to raise their voices in support of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to sit on the USSC. “As a soon to be public defender, it was important for me to travel to DC to support and celebrate the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court,” Young said.