Following the interview process and vetting of candidates, the Nominating Committee is pleased to submit the following slate of officers for the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, 2023 – 2024 Bar Year:

• President – President-Elect Hon. Kendra Howard will assume Presidency on May 1, 2023
• President-Elect – Kevin Gunn
• Vice President – Untress Quinn
• Treasurer – Amy Rebecca Johnson
• Secretary – Graham Dobbs
• ABA Delegate – Lynn Ann Vogel

Board and YLD election petition filing period opened at 8:30 a.m. on January 10 and ends at 5 p.m. on January 31. Sample petition and deadlines available here.

The Missouri Childrens Division (CD) is in a crisis. CD employs an insufficient number of case managers to handle abuse and neglect cases involving the children and the families of our community. Those who continue to work for CD are overworked and underpaid.

I want to extend my congratulations to each and every one of you on behalf of the Women in the Legal Profession (WILP) Section. I am so proud of you. I am elated to share this profession with you. I am so excited to see you begin your careers with such enthusiasm and unique perspectives. What an absolute honor and privilege it is to practice law.

The loss of the Hon. Ruth Bader-Ginsberg was tremendous, and it was felt by women throughout the legal profession and United States equally. She was an inspiration to us all, serving diligently on the U.S. Supreme Court for 27 years. If you are familiar with her path to get there, you know it was not easy.

Twice a year, I travel to Washington, D.C., as part of my board obligations for the American Association for Justice. I always carve out time to strap on my running shoes and take the same walk: my hotel to the White House to the Lincoln Memorial to the World War II Memorial to the Washington Monument down Constitution Avenue around the U.S. Capitol to the Supreme Court and back to my hotel.

BAMSL’s 2021-22 President Bob Tomaso, with approval from the BAMSL Executive Committee and the BAMSL Board of Governors, announced at the 2022 Law Day celebration that the annual Distinguished Lawyer Award will be renamed the Hon. E. Richard Webber Distinguished Lawyer Award.

On April 3, 2015, Anthony Ray Hinton was freed from prison, having spent 30 years on death row for murders he did not commit. The two victims were managers of two fast food restaurants in Birmingham, Ala., and were murdered during the course of robberies. There were no eyewitnesses to the murders. There was no fingerprint evidence. A third robbery occurred, and the manager identified Mr. Hinton in a lineup, even though during the time of that crime, Mr. Hinton was at work.

When the BAMSL staff informed me that I could write a stream of consciousness wrap-up article for my final President's column, I asked how that would be any different from the other columns I have written? Well, this column is supposed to highlight accomplishments of our one-year tenure. Hence, it should be a very brief column.

A Facebook memory of a post I made in 2013 popped up when I was checking my timeline earlier today. It said, "When it comes to setting long term goals, I'm not the best. I tend to be more of a 'take things as they come' type of person. This morning I was gently reminded to focus on 'by design and not default.' This doesn't mean that everything needs to be mapped out and planned, but it does mean that focusing on what I want will ensure that my life is not by default. It seems simple, but it is a reminder of why people who have both similar and different strengths from us are important. Thanks for helping me push on."

In 2022, we like to think that we have mastered the implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion. But much like the practice of law, there is no such thing as "mastering" the implementation of diversity, equity, and inclusion, just continuous practice to create improvement. The goal is to get better, not be perfect.