Law school and KCMBA to combine formerly competing operations
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association (KCMBA) are combining their Continuing Legal Education operations, creating the largest CLE provider in the area.
The collaboration, called KCMBA/UMKC CLE, will operate from KCMBA’s headquarters at 2300 Main Street, Suite 100, in Kansas City and will incorporate the current staff of both entities. Daniel McCarroll, UMKC’s long-time Director of CLE, will serve as Director for the collaboration. Vickie Schatz, KCMBA’s Executive Director, will manage the collaboration.
Dean Ellen Suni, Dean and Professor of Law at UMKC School of Law, said the decision to combine the two competitors was arrived at after careful consideration of the CLE needs of the regional legal community and the efficiencies that could be achieved by working together.
“As Kansas City’s Law School, and as a major provider of education for Kansas City’s lawyers, we are pleased and excited to join with KCMBA, Kansas City’s Bar Association, to make Kansas City a model for economical, efficient excellence in continuing legal education,” Suni said. “By building together on what we each have provided to this community independently, we believe we can not only serve the needs of lawyers today, but can better anticipate and provide what lawyers will need in this fast-changing world. The commonality in our vision, our goals and our cultures makes this a terrific move for both of our organizations as well as for the legal community.”
Schatz shared the view that an alliance between these two major CLE providers will result in more innovative and higher quality continuing legal education products. “We are looking forward to enjoying great synergy as we bring these two well-established and recognized brands together to produce innovative, informative and convenient CLE to Kansas City’s legal community. We are going to bring the best practices out of both of organizations.”
KCMBA President Rod Richardson, a 1974 alumnus of the UMKC School of Law, added: “One of our principle purposes as a bar association is to educate our members in continuing to develop their legal skills. I cannot imagine a more effective way to achieve this purpose than to partner with UMKC’s School of Law. The Law School’s recognized dedication to excellence in CLE combined with KCMBA’s innovative CLE delivery and content will together offer to our Legal Community significantly enhanced opportunities for first class professional education.”
KCMBA/UMKC CLE combines decades of experience in providing high quality, innovative legal education to our community. The new entity is in a unique position to meet the CLE needs of the Kansas City legal community and surrounding areas.
About the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
The Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association serves approximately 5,000 members in the nine-county Kansas City metro area: Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and Cass, Clay, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Platte and Ray counties in Missouri. The mission of the association is to serve its members and our community by promoting justice, professional excellence and respect for the law. For more information about KCMBA, visit kcmba.org.
About the UMKC School of Law
The UMKC School of Law is a top 20 “Best Value” law school that prepares students for practice by integrating high level theory and lawyering skills throughout the curriculum. The School provides a supportive academic and professional community offering high level student interaction with faculty and the legal community and is committed to the foundations of good lawyering: respect for people, for knowledge and ideas, and for justice.
About the University of Missouri-Kansas City
The University of Missouri-Kansas City, one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 15,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a four-part mission: life and health sciences; visual and performing arts; urban issues and education; and a vibrant learning and campus life experience. For more information about UMKC, visit www.umkc.edu. You can also find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and watch us on YouTube.
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