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The University of Missouri School of Law has a 150-year history of producing top-notch lawyers and legal professionals. We can now add top-notch teachers and scholars to the list of impressive accomplishments our alumni have achieved. Even more, several Mizzou Law alumni are now on faculty at Mizzou Law, sharing knowledge and paying forward to future students the great legal education they received in their time at Mizzou. In the past year, Mizzou Law has hired three new faculty members who are Mizzou Law graduates. Here is a little bit about each of them and why they chose to return to Mizzou to teach:
Jayne Woods, ‘05
Professor Woods is an associate teaching professor of law at Mizzou Law. She teaches Legal Research and Writing as well as Advocacy and Research. She began teaching at Mizzou Law as an adjunct professor in 2007 and joined the faculty full-time in fall of 2022.
Why choose to teach at Mizzou Law?
“Perhaps not surprisingly, my favorite part of law school was the Legal Writing Program, and I loved the way MU’s program emphasized small, intimate class sections. My LRW section was the first place I felt ‘at home’ in the law school. Through my adjunct years, I witnessed all the behind-the-scenes work that the faculty, staff, and librarians devoted to both student success and making the law school feel like a home for all students, and I knew I wanted to be a part of that.”
What do you hope to share with students that you yourself learned while a student at Mizzou?
“I found a lot of encouragement here when I was student. So, more than anything, I want to inspire students to love the dynamic, imperfect, often fickle, but always amazing system of justice we have and know that the profession is big enough for everyone to have a seat at the table and find work they love.”
Lauren Shores Pelikan, ‘12
Professor Shores Pelikan is an associate teaching professor of law at Mizzou Law. She joined the Mizzou Law faculty in the fall of 2022 after spending nearly 10 years working as a tax attorney specializing in transactional tax matters. She teaches Tax and Mergers and Acquisitions at Mizzou Law.
Why did you choose to return to Mizzou Law to teach?
“I love learning, teaching and tax law. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to return to Mizzou Law and teach tax law. I also love running, so [returning to Columbia and] having the MKT trail practically in my backyard is a runner’s dream come true!”
What do you hope to share with students that you yourself learned while a student at Mizzou?
“I am excited to introduce students to tax law and possible tax law careers. Tax is a very interesting and challenging area of law, and it can take you into a career where you are constantly learning new things, and are never bored.”
Chelseá Mitchell, ‘10
Chelseá Mitchell is the director of the Innocence Clinic at MU and a supervising attorney with the Midwest Innocence Project. Prior to joining the MU Law faculty, she was an attorney with the Missouri State Public Defender System’s capital trial office where she represented individuals facing the death penalty.
Why did you choose to return to Mizzou Law to teach?
“Missouri is my home. It’s where I grew up, its where my family is, and is where I choose to be now. But Mizzou also offers a unique opportunity among law schools in the region: a public university that gives aspiring lawyers of all backgrounds and all means the chance to get involved with the Innocence Clinic and engage with serious and systemic issues of injustice. Coming back to lead the Clinic was an easy choice!”
What do you hope to share with students that you yourself learned while a student at Mizzou?
“Follow what you stand for. Use law school to explore your moral compass. The law can be a powerful thing. It can do everything from making one person whole to changing the lives of an entire county, state, or country. It can give people freedom and it can take it away. It can make people rich and it can leave others destitute. Never forget its power, and never underestimate your individual ability to use it to right wrongs and to make the world a more just place.”