University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law

UMKC Law welcomes its newest class of JD and LLM students! They join us from across the Kansas City metro, the United States and around the globe. We’re excited to see all that they'll accomplish and look forward to celebrating their success along the way. Welcome to UMKC Law!

The fastest-growing workplace skill? Understanding risk.

Whether you work in HR, healthcare, finance, business, or operations, legal knowledge is becoming essential to leadership.

UMKC’s Master of Legal Studies program prepares professionals for careers like:
✔️ Compliance Manager
✔️ Contract Specialist
✔️ Regulatory Analyst
✔️ Human Resources Director

https://bit.ly/4wfTZ4j

This summer, Ashley Swanson-Hoye, director of law student services at UMKC School of Law, presented at the National Association for Law Student Affairs Professionals conference on a foundation of good lawyering: respect for people.

Her presentation, “Respect for People: Teaching Civil Engagement in Law School,” highlighted a program offered during the required weeklong orientation for incoming law students. Moving beyond rules-based professionalism, the program encourages students to think critically before engaging in discussion. Students explore practical concepts that shape dialogue and decision-making, including moral foundations theory, intellectual humility, cognitive bias and the illusion of explanatory depth. The session generated significant interest among attendees, with many expressing plans to adapt elements of the program for use with their own students.

Congratulations to Ashley on sharing UMKC Law's approach with law student affairs professionals nationwide!

The UMKC School of Law and Dean Mulligan recently traveled to Cape Girardeau to visit law alumni from Southeast Missouri, where we continued to celebrate the creation of the Scott S. Bethune Scholarship. Scott Bethune (J.D. ’88), a native of Portageville, Missouri, established the scholarship with a $1 million endowed gift to support law students from Southeast Missouri who attend UMKC Law.

Learn more about the scholarship: https://www.umkc.edu/news/posts/2026/april/umkc-school-of-law-alum-donates-1-million-to-student-scholarships.html

Our students are spending the summer putting their legal education into practice. Here are just a couple:

⚖️ Lillian Rhodes, 2L, is a law clerk at DeVaughn James Injury Lawyers

⚖️ Clayton Hutchins, 3L, is a summer associate at Littler Mendelson

For the fifth consecutive year, UMKC School of Law is proud to host the ABA's Annual Family Law Trial Advocacy Institute. The weeklong program from the ABA Section of Family Law is the nation's preeminent family law trial skills course.

The countdown is on: The bar exam is less than a week away! By now, you may have cycled through these stages of bar prep more than once. Whatever stage you’re in, remember to take breaks, get some rest and trust all the work you’ve put in.

Taking the exam in Missouri? Lunch is on us, so consider it one question you won’t have to answer! You’ve got this, Roos!

UMKC School of Law faculty help shape the future of American law.

Through their work with the American Law Institute (ALI), professors Steve Leben, Colin Marks and Jeff Thomas contribute to national conversations on artificial intelligence, corporate governance, insurance law and other evolving areas of the legal profession. They also bring the latest legal developments, national expertise and real-world perspectives directly into the classroom. Together, their involvement connects UMKC School of Law to the ALI’s national efforts to clarify, modernize and improve the law.

Learn more about the work of these UMKC legal experts: https://www.umkc.edu/insider/posts/2026/07/american-law-institute-elected-members.html

Brooke Davis, a 2L, is spending the summer at the Green County Prosecutor's Office and having an incredible time:

"Just a month of this externship has given me the confirmation I’ve been looking for all year. That I can do this. That I am capable of being an attorney. And that I am so excited to one day be an advocate in the courtroom." Brooke Davis – Greene County Prosecutor

Externships help students become practice-ready.