Sep. 14, 2022

Professors Henson, Pratzel honored with 2022 Spurgeon Smithson Awards

Mizzou Law professor Chuck Henson and adjunct professor Alan Pratzel were honored on Sept. 14 with Spurgeon Smith Awards by the Missouri Bar Foundation. This award recognizes judges, law teachers, and/or lawyers who have provided outstanding services toward the increase and diffusion of justice. The Foundation’s board recognizes the great work Professor Henson has done at the university, with the Supreme Court of Missouri’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Law, and with students: “Henson seeks out the meaning of justice and ensures his students focus on the special responsibility lawyers have for the quality of…

Sep. 7, 2022

Law School Foundation Issues Notice of Annual Meeting

The annual meeting of the University of Missouri Law School Foundation will be held in person on Friday, September 23 at 2:45 PM in Hulston Hall, Classroom 3.. The order of business will consist of the election of trustees and presentation of the  annual financial report. The membership of the Law School Foundation consists of any person who has graduated in the past five years, the faculty of the school of law, anyone who has contributed $100 or more in the past year or anyone who has contributed an aggregate sum of $1,000 or more. We hope you can attend as…

Aug. 24, 2022

Prof. Erika Lietzan Re-appointed to ACUS, Named to Best Lawyer in America List

Erika Lietzan, the William H. Pittman Professor of Law & Timothy J. Heinsz Professor of Law was recently re-appointed to a two-year term as a public members of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS). ACUS is an independent federal agency dedicated to improving the administrative process through consensus-driven applied research and providing nonpartisan expert advice and recommendations for federal agency procedures. Its public members are academics, practicing lawyers, and other experts drawn from the private sector. Additionally, Professor Lietzan was named a 2022 Best Lawyer in America for her high caliber work in Biotechnology and Life…

Aug. 4, 2022

Professor Angela Drake Wins Distinguished Faculty Award

Professor Angela Drake, director of the Mizzou Law Veterans Clinic, has been honored by the Mizzou Alumni Association (MAA) with the 63rd Annual Distinguished Faculty Award. This award honors one Mizzou faculty member each year for their exceptional contributions to the University’s growth and core mission, through their professional accomplishments, teaching and research excellence or service to the institution. Under Professor Drake’s leadership, the Veterans Clinic has assisted over 1,000 veterans and their family members with discharge upgrades and disability compensation claims, free of charge, and secured over $10 million in federal compensation benefits for those they represent.

July 11, 2022

Mizzou Law Alumni Now Hold All Chief Judge Seats in Missouri Appellate Courts

This summer, the judges of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, elected Hon. Gary D. Witt, ’90, as chief judge, and the Eastern District judges elected Hon. Michael E. Gardner, ’10, to serve as chief judge. Both began their terms July 1. The Hon. Jack Goodman, ’98, began his term as chief judge for the Southern District on June 16. With these elections, and with Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Hon. Paul Wilson, ’92, being a Mizzou Law graduate, a Mizzou Law alumnus is chief judge in every appellate court in Missouri.

July 5, 2022

Paul Litton Takes Office as Interim Dean of Mizzou Law

Paul Litton today took office as interim dean of Mizzou Law following the leadership of Dean Lyrissa Lidsky, who stepped down on July 4. MU Provost Latha Ramchand announced in April that Litton had been named interim dean after Dean Lidsky finished her tenure. Litton, who is the R.B. Price Professor of Law at Mizzou Law, has been a member of the faculty at MU since 2006 and served as associate dean for research and faculty development for the last seven years. In addition, he has served as director of the office of academic integrity within the MU…

June 24, 2022

Prof. Barondes Quoted by Reuters on Supreme Court Ruling

Twice in the last month, Reuters stories have quoted Prof. Royce Barondes on the implications of the recently decided Supreme Court case, NYSR&PA v. Bruen. Last September, Prof. Barondes summarized the issues for MU Law students in the following way “By restrictions challenged in the lawsuit, New York generally does not allow private citizens to carry concealed firearms during their daily lives–to exercise their civil right to bear arms in this manner–absent a demonstrated special need for self-protection distinguishable from that of the general public. In adopting the Fourteenth Amendment, the country made applicable to the States the constitutional requirement…

June 15, 2022

USSC Justice Cites Mizzou Law Veterans Clinic Amicus Brief in Dissenting Opinion

An amicus brief written by Mizzou Law Veterans Clinic students and faculty was cited three times by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch in his dissenting opinion in George v. McDonough. The case, decided on June 15, found that discharged military veteran Kevin George was not entitled to have his earlier decision denying veterans benefits for preexisting mental health issue, exacerbated by his time in service, revised to conform to the law. The case involved the scope of “clear and unmistakeable error” in agency decisions. In George’s case, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs denied his benefits initially…

June 15, 2022

Two Rising Mizzou Law 2Ls are Prestigious 2022 Rural Summer Legal Corps Fellows

Robert Lass and Autumn Westhoff, rising Mizzou Law 2L students, have been selected and are currently participating in the 2022 Rural Summer Legal Corps Fellowship. Each summer, Equal Justice Works selects 40 highly qualified law students from 36 law schools across the country to serve in the program. The program partners with the Legal Services Corporation to support law students who want to give back to rural communities across the United and its territories. Student fellows spend eight-to-10 weeks during the summer exploring a career in civil legal aid, by providing direct legal services and building capacity at…

June 1, 2022

Mizzou Law Chapter of ACS Named “Student Chapter of the Year”

The American Constitution Society (ACS) has named the Mizzou Law student chapter of ACS as the “Student Chapter of the Year.” In their newsletter announcement of the award, the ACS said the Mizzou Law chapter won by exhibiting “the greatest strength in meeting ACS’s mission and goals.” Rising Mizzou Law 3L and Chapter President Hirsh Joshi says winning this award was a goal for the chapter all year and was a result of extraordinary hard work. “Winning it all is hard to digest because there are other incredible chapters at other law schools,” Joshi said. “We came away with…