How Are Judges Selected in Missouri? The Missouri Plan & Judicial Retention | Missouri Law Matters

Now, as part of becoming a lawyer in the state of Missouri, if you become licensed in the state, you end up joining the Missouri Bar Association, which is one of the things that I know you are passionate about.

So tell folks a little bit about what is the Missouri Bar Association and who its members are and what it actually does.

Missouri is a unified bar, and so once you go to law school and you pass the bar, you automatically become a member of our bar.

There are many things that the Missouri Bar does.

We work to help individuals and citizens improve the administrative justice and to help lawyers be the best advocates they can for their clients.

We see it in different ways.

We provide CLEs for lawyers.

We provide wellbeing for lawyers in order to h- best help their clients.

We educate as to the Missouri Court Plan and how that works and how judges in our state are selected, and we also make sure that we have resources in place for our members to do the best for their clients, like by having legal research software or other member benefits that can help the lawyers do the best job they can for their client.

Excellent, and I know another resource that you all have provided i- is one that I had utilized quite frequently when I was a trial judge, and I had people in front of me who weren't represented by counsel who were just like, "I really need a lawyer.

I need to find somebody who can help me with this." And I know the Missouri Bar operates a referral service to help people get connected with lawyers in their community who might be able to take their case.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

So that's a- Wonderful service.

And of course, you, like me, have been a member of the Bar ever since you passed the Bar exam and became a licensed attorney in the state of Missouri.

But not everyone participates in what I would call the governance of the Bar, participates on the committees, and is part of the executive structure and leadership that really guides the organization and guides these programs that help the attorneys and help the public to sort through these issues.

What was it that drew you to the administrative side of the Bar and to be involved on the executive side?

It took a while, actually.

I started off being involved in local bar associations.

The first organization I was involved with was the Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City, and just found the work so rewarding in being able to work with other individuals in the legal community, and specifically with our local community, to advance the mission, really found a wonderful sense of engagement through that process.

And so then I became involved with the Kansas City Metro Bar Association, KCMBA, and I became president of that organization in 2020.

With the pandemic and all of that was going on, there was lots of changes that we were looking at during that timeframe, and I realized how important not only good executive directors, but good leadership is during that time of need.

So I was involved with the Missouri Bar on the board during that time, but not in a leadership role.

The leadership really began for me, for the Missouri Bar, when I heard that we were looking at doing a wellbeing committee.

And I had been involved on multiple fronts, but I think that one thing that lawyers need help with is talking about their own health.