Glesner Fines has spent three decades educating students about the role of lawyers as agents of justice, and her leadership has been recognized by students, colleagues, and others in the profession. She teaches courses in family law and professional ethics, and her innovative team-based learning strategy for teaching professional responsibility earned her the designation of one of “23 Law Profs to Take Before You Die” by National Jurist Magazine.

“Because I love the profession, I am profoundly honored to be nominated for an award recognizing efforts to improve that profession’s role in providing justice,” said Glesner Fines.

In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Glesner Fines has also authored two innovative textbooks and a library of computer-assisted legal instruction programs that are used by law students across the country. Outside of the law school, Glesner Fines has a passion for serving her community to improve justice and has devoted her time and expertise to such organizations and projects as Legal Aid of Western Missouri, the Battered Women’s Justice Project, and the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association Civility Standards Committee to name a few.

Several UMKC alumni were also named Women’s Justice Award winners. Mara H. Cohara (’01), partner at Lathrop & Gage, received the Rising Star award; Elizabeth A. Bock (’86), associate circuit judge with the Douglas County Circuit Court, and Lajuana M. Counts (’88), assistant U.S. attorney with the Western District of Missouri, both received Public Service Practitioner awards; and Jean Peters Baker (’98), prosecutor in Jackson County, received the Public Official award. Sara Hofeditz Christensen, a current UMKC student, was also honored with the Leader of Tomorrow award. The number of awardees from UMKC is not lost on Glesner Fines.

“I’m humbled to realize that many of the current and former award winners are graduates of UMKC; many who were my former students,” said Glesner Fines.

For more information about the 2013 Women’s Justice Awards, visit the Missouri Lawyers Weekly website, which includes photos from the ceremony.

S. Rafe Foreman, UMKC’s Douglas Stripp Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of Advocacy welcomes participants to the inaugural Show Me Challenge National Voir Dire Tournament.

Law students traveled from throughout the country to gather in Missouri April 11-13 for UMKC School of Law’s inaugural “Show Me Challenge” National Voir Dire Tournament. The competition—a three-day event that encouraged students to gain knowledge and experience in an often under taught element of trial practice—was organized and hosted by S. Rafe Foreman, UMKC’s Douglas Stripp Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of Advocacy. The event could not have taken place without the sponsorship of the Danajames Kids Foundation and Bartimus Frickleton Robertson & Gorny, whose generosity supports the study of advocacy. Additionally, hundreds of people volunteered for this event, without whom it would not have been possible.

Sara Christensen, UMKC School of Law student and teaching assistant to Professor Foreman, interacts with participants during the opening night dinner at Accurso’s restaurant.

About the Competition
Twelve teams from law schools across America competed in the tournament, which focused on jury selection skills not often included as part of a lawyer’s academic training. Rounds included conducting the voir dire, acting as second chair counsel and presenting an opening statement. Since the voir dire is an essential skill for trial attorneys, and many cases may be won or lost as early as voir dire, Foreman and UMKC created this event to encourage and promote the teaching of voir dire in order to provide adequate attention to the process during law school.

Team Awards
Texas Tech University School of Law took home first place, edging out the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. South Texas School of Law and Creighton University School of Law also advanced to the semi-final round, while Baylor Law School earned the Most Professional Team award. Also competing at that tournament were teams from Drake University Law School, Mississippi College School of Law, Southern Illinois University School of Law, and Washburn University School of Law.

Teams from nine law schools competed for team and individual awards during the three-day tournament, which was sponsored by the Danajames Kids Foundation and Bartimus Frickleton Robertson & Gorney.

Individual Awards
In addition to the team awards, several individuals received awards for their superior performance. Ian Anthony from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law earned Best Overall Advocate, Mitchell Calhoun from Texas Tech University School of Law earned Outstanding Voir Dire, Ashley Sharif from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law earned Outstanding Second Chair Counsel and Juan Hernandez from Mississippi College School of Law rounded out the individual awards earning Outstanding Opening Statement.

For more information about the tournament, including tournament rules and scoring information, please visit the “Show Me Challenge” section of the law school’s website.

Have no fear. There is still time to study for the LSAT, take the test and apply here to UMKC.

Go to the LSAC website to apply.

Legal Aid Attorney Michael Duffy speaks at Abandoned Housing Forum

On Wednesday, April 10, 2013, The Urban Lawyer, in conjunction with a number of law school student organizations, sponsored a lunchtime forum in the School of Law’s student lounge addressing Kansas City’s Abandoned Housing problem. The packed crowd included students, faculty, staff and community members.

Panelists included Allison Bergman, Senior Counsel at the Hardwick Law Firm, LLC and UMKC’s School of Law 2013 Achievement Award Recipient; Michael Duffy, Managing Partner at Legal Aid of Western Missouri; Councilman Scott Wagner, Kansas City, Missouri City Council; David Park, Deputy Director of Kansas City Neighborhoods and Housing Services; and Erica Dobreff, Kansas City Equity Fund. They acknowledged that the issue of abandoned houses is very difficult, with few effective solutions having been identified. They discussed efforts that have been made to address the problem and made suggestions for actions that could be taken.

Allison Bergman will be honored at the UMKC Alumni Awards luncheon on April 18^th with the School of Law’s Alumni Achievement Award. She is being recognized for her demonstrated commitment to the Kansas City urban core. During her career, she has worked on a number of downtown development projects, including the redevelopment of the old federal courthouse into affordable housing and efforts to redevelop the 90-acre Beacon Hill neighborhood.

As a new lawyer, Toobin was an associate counsel for the Iran-Contra trial, which he described in his book: Opening Arguments: A Young Lawyer’s First Case – United States v. Oliver North. As a journalist, he related the events of the O.J. Simpson trial in The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson. His prize-winning 2007 book, The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, is considered the definitive work on the current Supreme Court justices and what influences their decisions.  His most recent book, The Oath, The Obama White House and the Supreme Court, tells of President Obama’s clashes with the Supreme Court. With this background, Toobin was uniquely qualified to talk about the history of the Court and the effect of politics on its decisions, and he did not disappoint.

Prior to his talk to the community, Toobin visited the UMKC School of Law, where he met with students and faculty and answered questions about the Court and its decisions. He cautiously made predictions about some of the Court’s current cases, reminding the audience that his prediction regarding the Affordable Care Act case last term, which is preserved on tape, missed the mark. He cautioned the students not to rely too much on the questions justices ask in oral argument in predicting the outcome of cases. In answer to a student question, Toobin told the audience that, for him, the most important case the Court decided in recent years was Bush v. Gore. He noted that, when Justice Scalia is chided about the case when he speaks to groups, he tells them to “get over it,” but added that he personally has “not gotten over it.”

Provost Award Winner Professor Wanda Temm:

The Provost’s Award requires clear, compelling and documented evidence of excellence in teaching, student development and learning as well as sensitivity and adaptability to individual student needs, interests and challenges.  Peer and student reviews of Professor Temm’s teaching in the school of law’s writing and bar preparation programs as well as the performance of our graduates on the Bar provide the type of clear demonstration required for this award.

Professor Temm has been an invaluable asset to the school of law for more than twenty years. She has been innovative in developing programs that truly prepare students to pass the bar and to enter the profession “practice-ready” with well-developed fundamental lawyering skills.  She consistently reviews and updates the school’s legal writing curriculum, working collaboratively with legal writing faculty and seeking and using input from the practicing bar.  The bar prep program she developed is light-years ahead of the curve and is considered the gold standard nationally for such programs.

Law schools regularly ask if anyone has an “answer” for increasing bar passage of graduates.  Under Professor Temm’s leadership, UMKC has found the answer: a dedicated, coordinated, intensive program infused with passion for student success.  That passion comes from Professor Temm, who instills it in her team of co-teachers and the students they guide through the bar preparation process.  The dean’s file cabinet is full of letters from graduates thanking the law school for Professor Temm’s dedication to their success, which is demonstrated by the over 97% bar passage rate of graduates who actively participate in the UMKC Bar Prep Program.

The Elmer F. Pierson Teaching Award Winner Dean Jeffrey Berman:

The Pierson Award recipient is nominated by the Dean, in consultation with School of Law Alumni Association President Mara Cohara, and is formally selected by the UMKC alumni association board. The school of law’s recipient, Dean Jeffrey Berman, has been teaching for almost forty and has served as associate or interim dean for thirty of those years. Administrators are often overlooked when it comes to teaching awards, but this past year in particular, Dean Berman outdid himself as a teacher and in his commitment to students.  As a result, he simply could not be overlooked. Near-perfect scores on the student ratings of instruction for his Civil Procedure and Applied Evidence courses as well as his going above and beyond to provide outstanding opportunities for student learning virtually compelled his selection for this award.

Comments on Dean Berman’s teaching evaluations, which included statements such as “brilliant, well-prepared, funny, interesting, genuinely cares, awesome, my favorite class throughout law school. . . One of the classes I can honestly say I will use every day in my real life practice,” demonstrate his teaching excellence. His innovation and commitment to students are demonstrated by his teaching activities this past year. Dean Berman’s Applied Evidence course is a cutting-edge blend of doctrine and skills training, and this past summer, he taught that course on an uncompensated basis when the school needed another upper-level skills course among its offerings.

In addition, this past year, Dean Berman reactivated his Missouri Bar license – not a simple check-the-box process – so that he could take over clinical oversight of the Appellate Practice Clinic and keep that exciting opportunity alive. He has worked closely with students in the clinic who represent clients in unemployment compensation appeals and get the amazing opportunity to brief and argue real cases before the Missouri Court of Appeals even before they graduate. Dean Berman works closely with his students as they develop and practice their arguments, and he attends every oral argument where he sees the impact of his work as students defend their positions with competence and professionalism before the court.

The evening will begin with a showing of the most recent 48 Hours coverage of the Ferguson case. For those who are not familiar with the case, the video and information from the panelists will quickly get you up to speed with the events of the crime, investigation, trial and post-conviction matters.

There will be several panelists including: Erin Moriarty (48 Hours Correspondent), Kathleen Zellner (Ryan’s current counsel), Valerie Leftwich (Public Defender’s office), Hon. J.D. Williamson (retired judge), Charles Rogers (Ryan’s trial counsel), Laura O’Sullivan (Midwest Innocence Project), and an Independence Police officer. The discussion’s moderator will be Prof. Edward Cantu.

Students and audience members will be encouraged to ask questions of the panelists via text message, Facebook and Twitter throughout the discussion.

Please feel free to invite anyone you think might be interested including family and non- law school friends.

For information, please visit our Facebook Event Page.

Event will be held at UMKC School of Law, 500 E. 52nd Street, KCMO 64110, in the Student Lounge.

Advance RSVP required for this event.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Lunch is served at 11:10 a.m. Program & Book Signing 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.