Total Credits: 7.0 MCLE, 1.0 Ethics, 1.0 Elimination of Bias, 7.0 Kansas Credit-General, 1.0 Kansas Ethics
Join us for the Annual Government Practice Institute
December 9, 2022
In-person | Capitol Plaza Hotel & Convention Center | 415 W. McCarty | Jefferson City
or Virtual
8 – 8:30 a.m. | Registration
8:30 – 9:20 a.m. | Case Law Update
Speaker: David L. McCain, Jr., Missouri Attorney General's Office, Jefferson City
9:20 – 9:35 a.m. | Break
9:35 – 10:25 a.m. | Litigating Elections
Speaker: Jesus A. Osete, Secretary of State of Missouri, Jefferson City
This session will provide an overview of pending election law cases.
10:25 – 10:40 a.m. | Break
10:40 – 11:30 a.m. | Amendment 3: Constitutional Expungement
Speakers: Mary D. Fox, Director, Office of the Public Defender, Columbia; Amy Fite, Prosecuting Attorney, Christian County, Ozark; Sara G. Rittman, Jefferson City; Sydney Ragsdale, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, UMKC Expungement Clinic, Kansas City; Jason K. Lewis, Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs, Missouri Attorney General's Office, St. Louis; Doug Shull, General Counsel at Missouri Department of Corrections, Jefferson City
Moderator: Eric D. Jennings, The Missouri Bar, Jefferson City
In November, Missouri voters approved Constitutional Amendment 3, relating to marijuana use and the expungement of cannabis-related criminal records. The new constitutional amendment takes effect Dec. 8. The portions of Amendment 3 authorizing constitutional expungements will be particularly relevant for criminal law practitioners. This online course is designed to provide Missouri lawyers with a basic understanding of constitutional expungements under Amendment 3's framework, so they will be ready to answer client questions and take proper action.
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Lunch provided
12:30 – 1:20 p.m. | Medicaid Expansion: Litigation and Implementation
Speaker: Joel D. Ferber, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, St. Louis
This session will describe the long road to Medicaid expansion in Missouri, including the ballot initiative enacted by Missouri voters, the litigation to enforce the constitutional amendment to expand Medicaid and the aftermath of the litigation. The session will also discuss implementation issues and future challenges for the Missouri Medicaid (MO HealthNet) program in light of the unwinding of the Public Health Emergency (PHE) and Medicaid's continuous coverage provisions.
1:20 – 1:35 p.m. | Break
1:35 – 2:25 p.m. | Expanded Remote Public Access to Case.net & Redaction Requirements
Speakers: Melinda J. Bentley, Legal Ethics Counsel, Jefferson City; Eric D. Jennings, The Missouri Bar, Jefferson City; and Catherine N. Zacharias, Office of State Courts Administrator, Jefferson City
Beginning July 1, 2023, members of the public will be able to access public court records from Case.net from their personal electronic devices. This program will provide an overview of upcoming the rule changes and the interplay with the e-filing system. It will also provide information regarding redaction requirements, and related ethical responsibilities.
2:25 – 2:40 p.m. | Break
2:40 – 3:30 p.m. | Open Records/Sunshine law
Speakers: Jason K. Lewis, Missouri Attorney General's Office, St. Louis; and Casey Lawrence, Missouri Attorney General's Office, Jefferson City
3:30 – 3:40 p.m. | Break
3:40 – 4:30 p.m. | Let's Talk About Implicit Bias
Speaker: Andrea M. Follett, Missouri Department of Labor, Jefferson City
This CLE identifies common forms of implicit bias, addresses the impact of implicit bias on the practice of law, and provides strategies to interrupt and overcome biased thinking.
Melinda J. Bentley serves as Legal Ethics Counsel in Missouri where she provides oral and written informal advisory opinions to attorneys on issues related to the Missouri Rules of Professional Conduct. In that position, she also serves as administrator and counsel to the Advisory Committee of the Supreme Court of Missouri. She began serving in that position in 2012. Prior to that she worked for the Illinois State Bar Association as Assistant Counsel from 2001-03, First Assistant Counsel from 2003-11, and Assistant Director of Legislative Affairs from 2009-11. She is a frequent speaker and author on professional responsibility matters. Ms. Bentley currently serves as a Co-Chair of the Planning Committee for the American Bar Association (ABA) Center for Professional Responsibility’s National Conference on Professional Responsibility, and is a member of the ABA Professionalism Committee, the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility Coordinating Council, the Planning Committee for The Missouri Bar Solo and Small Firm Conference, and the National Organization of Bar Counsel’s Committees on Amicus, Website, and Program. She was a board member and officer of the National Organization of Bar Counsel from 2015-2020, including a term as President from 2018-2019, and formerly served on the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility (2020-2023), Editorial Board of the ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct as a member (2015-2016) and Chair (2016-2018), as well as a member of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility Coordinating Council (2016-2018). She is licensed in both Missouri and Illinois, and is a member of The Missouri Bar, Illinois State Bar Association, American Bar Association, National Organization of Bar Counsel, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Cole County Bar Association, and Mid-Missouri Women Lawyers’ Association.
On January 1, 2011, Amy Fite began her first term as the Prosecuting Attorney for Christian County. During her tenure the office has transitioned to a “fileless office”, a “no refusal” policy has been established to allow law enforcement to seek search warrants in cases involving impaired drivers, the office has been structured into teams for better efficiency and accountability. She has implemented a best practice of vertical prosecution – meaning the same prosecutor handles the case from case review through disposition.
After graduating cum laude from St. Louis University School of Law in 1997, Fite began as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Christian County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. While there she served as the narcotics attorney. Upon leaving Christian County, Fite spent over eight years at the Circuit Attorney’s Office for the City of St. Louis. At the Circuit Attorney’s Office, Fite served in the Drug Court, Domestic Violence Unit, General Felony Trial Staff, Gang Unit, and the Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit. She spent more than two years as the Trial Trainer, where she trained incoming Assistant Circuit Attorneys how to prepare and try jury trials. While at the Circuit Attorney’s Office, Fite participated in well over 100 jury trials, including successfully convicting murderers, robbers, rapists and child sex offenders. In 2008, Fite joined in the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office serving as a 1st Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the General Crimes Unit. January 1, 2011, she began her first term as Christian County Prosecuting Attorney.
Andrea Follett is General Counsel at the Missouri Department of Labor & Industrial Relations. She received her BA and JD from the University of Missouri. Throughout her career, Follett has practiced appellate, employment, and education law, and she is a recipient of the Missouri Bar's David Dixon Appellate Advocacy Award.
Mary Fox is the Director of the Missouri State Public Defender System. Fox was appointed to this position in January, 2020. Prior to that appointment Fox served for thirteen years as the managing attorney of the St. Louis City Trial Office for the system. Fox began her career as a public defender in 1981 as an Assistant Public Defender for MSPD and served in that position until 1987. In the intervening twenty years between her service with MSPD Fox served as a hearing officer for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Internal Affairs Division, was a Commissioner for the 21st Judicial Circuit in Missouri and practiced mainly in family and juvenile law. Fox is a 1976 graduate of St. Louis University with a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Affairs and a 1980 graduate of St. Louis University School of Law.
Eric D. Jennings currently serves as Government Relations Counsel for the Supreme Court of Missouri and previously served as General Counsel and Government Relations Director for The Missouri Bar and as legislative staff in the Missouri General Assembly. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Law.
Jason Lewis is General Counsel in the Attorney General's Office, where he has worked since 2016 following a career in private practice. His principal practice areas are constitutional law, administrative law, elections law, and the Sunshine Law. Jason earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Washington U
David McCain attended law school at UMKC. Following law school, David clerked at the Kansas Court of Appeals. He has worked at the Missouri Attorney General’s Office since 2014. David is a graduate of the MoBar Leadership Academy. He currently serves as vice chair of the Missouri Bar Government Practice Committee.
Jesus A. Osete serves as General Counsel to the Hon. John R. Ashcroft, Secretary of State of Missouri. Mr. Osete previously served as Deputy Solicitor General of Missouri and Deputy Attorney General for Special Litigation. He has presented oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court. Before joining the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Osete worked at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP in the Appellate and Supreme Court Group. He also clerked for the Hon. Bobby E. Shepherd of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the Hon. Chief Justice Zel M. Fischer of the Supreme Court of Missouri. Mr. Osete received his J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, where he served as Senior Executive Editor of the Washington University Law Review. Before law school, Mr. Osete worked for the late Senator John McCain in the United States Senate, and received an A.B. in political science and pre-law from the University of Arizona.
Mr. Osete serves as Trustee for the Supreme Court of Missouri Historical Society and served as Vice-Chair of the Missouri Bar Appellate Practice Committee. In 2018, he was one of approximately forty individuals in the United States selected to attend the Originalism Summer Seminar at the Georgetown University Law Center. In 2019, he was one of twelve young lawyers in Missouri selected to participate in the MissouriBar’s Leadership Academy.
Sydney Ragsdale is a lawyer with the UMKC Expungement Clinic and a fellow with the Missouri Clear My Record (CMR) Expungement Project. Previously she worked for renowned criminal defense attorney Sean O’Brien as an investigator and legal researcher.
When Sydney is not working on making expungement more fair, effective, and accessible, she is performing improv or sketch comedy with her friends at the Bird Comedy Theater.
Sara Rittman was an Assistant Attorney General from 2019-2022. She served on the office's Professional Responsibility Committee as well as serving in leadership roles in the Governmental Affairs and Litigation Divisions. She practiced legal ethics and attorney discipline law from 1993-2019, including private practice, as Missouri's first Legal Ethics Counsel, and at OCDC. She was also previously an AAG from 1981-1993. She received her JD from UMKC in 1981.
Catherine has been with the Missouri Office of State Courts Administrator since 1998 as legal counsel. Her duties have included several diverse areas such as staff for Missouri State Judicial Records Committee, Missouri Court Automation Committee, Family Court Committee, and other Supreme Court committees, working on electronic filing design and rules, reviewing contracts, advising on employment issues, reviewing and tracking legislation and legal research.
Prior to coming to OSCA, Catherine was an administrative hearing officer at DOR for DWI hearing and was a litigation attorney for the Dept. of Social Services. She worked for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri during and after law school.
Catherine received her bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Missouri, Columbia in 1989 and her J.D. from St. Louis University in 1993.
Capitol Plaza Hotel & Convention Center
415 W. McCarty, Jefferson City, Missouri 65101
Phone: (573) 635-1234
www.capitolplazajeffersoncity.com
The Missouri Bar takes the safety and well-being of its members, the public, and its employees very seriously. We will continue to monitor the coronavirus and its variants, adapting our services and events as appropriate, based on the advice of governments, public health authorities, and medical professionals.
• We will inform you of any changes that affect you, especially when it comes to in-person events. This includes any cancellation notices or changes to venue, format, or safety guidelines.
• Whenever possible, any notices will be announced at least three days in advance of an event.
• We encourage all attendees of Missouri Bar events to be aware of and follow CDC guidelines for large gatherings.
• Help us keep everyone in attendance safe by not attending an event if, within the 10 days prior to the event:
♦ You have tested positive for COVID-19;
♦ You have experienced any symptoms of COVID-19; or
♦ You have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
• Be respectful of the personal comfort level of other attendees when it comes to physical distancing, including shaking hands or other gestures common in networking environments.
By registering for and attending a Missouri Bar event, you agree to take necessary measures, including departing the event, and to notify The Missouri Bar at COVID-Advise@mobar.org if you test positive for COVID-19 or begin to experience symptoms of COVID-19. Furthermore, you agree to notify The Missouri Bar at COVID-Advise@mobar.org if you test positive for COVID-19 within 10 days after the event.
Please also be advised that, pursuant to RSMo. 537.1005, effective Aug. 28, 2021, “under Missouri law, any individual entering the premises or engaging the services of the business waives all civil liability against the individual or entity for any damages based on inherent risks associated with an exposure or potential exposure to COVID-19, except for recklessness or willful misconduct.”
Please contact The Missouri Bar with any questions or concerns.
| Availability | Module Title | Speaker | Credits | Duration | Course Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 09, 2022 @ 08:30 AM (CST) |
2022 Annual Government Practice Institute Virtual Session
|
Melinda Bentley
Joel Ferber
Amy Fite
Andrea Follett
Mary Fox
Eric Jennings
Casey Lawrence
Jason Lewis
David McCain
Jesus Osete
Sydney Ragsdale
Sara Rittman
Charles Shull
Catherine Zacharias
|
Total Credits: 7.0 MCLE , 1.0 Ethics , 1.0 Elimination of Bias | 8 Hours | More info » |
