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Hybrid Conference

2024 Annual Government Practice Institute


Total Credits: 6.0 MCLE, 1.0 Ethics, 5.0 Kansas Credit-General, 1.0 Kansas Ethics

Practice Area:
Government Practice |  Ethics

Dates


Description

Join us for the Annual Government Practice Institute
December 6, 2024
In-person | The Missouri Bar Center | 326 Monroe St. | Jefferson City
or Virtual

8:30-9 a.m. | Registration and continental breakfast

9-9:50 a.m. | Legislative update
This session will provide an update on the 2024 legislative session, highlighting any bills that passed impacting governmental practice. Additionally, discussion will focus on what lies ahead in the 2025 legislative session.
Focus Points:

  • 2024 session review.
  • Bills impacting governmental practice.
  • Preview of the 2025 session.

Speaker: Andy Briscoe, The Missouri Bar, Jefferson City

9:50-10:05 a.m. | Break

10:05-10:55 a.m. | Missouri Sunshine Law: Trends from the media's perspective 
This session will examine recent developments in Missouri Sunshine Law practices among state bodies, including the Missouri State Highway Patrol's decision to stop providing names in online crash reports.
Focus Points:

  • Overall trends toward less public information. 
  • Missouri State Highway Patrol's decision to stop providing names in online crash reports.
  • Weaponization" of Missouri Sunshine Law. 

Speaker: Dan Curry, Brown, Curry & Duggan, Kansas City

10:55-11:10 a.m. | Break

11:10 a.m.-noon | Say it out loud! Oral argument in trial and appellate courts
Much of a litigator's work is written and judges often make decisions based on filings alone. But oral argument still plays an important part in prosecuting and defending ligation. This session will present tips for preparing for and presenting oral argument in trial and appellate courts.
Focus Points:

  • Appearance and body language matter – and are things that we can evaluate and improve.
  • Knowing the physical situation for the argument can help the speaker prepare.
  • Openings should balance summarizing principal arguments, setting out structure, and catching attention. 
  • Vocabulary matters, especially using words that fit the standard of review and are not confusing.
  • Practice arguments – even to yourself or a nonlawyer – can help you learn how to articulate complex issues.

Speaker: James R. Layton, Tueth Keeney Cooper Mohan Jackstadt P.C., St. Louis

Noon-1 p.m. | Lunch (provided)

1-1:50 p.m. | Stress mastery: Harnessing pressure for peak performance in legal practice 
Studies have shown that attorneys tend to encounter mental health challenges like depression, anxiety and substance misuse at disproportionately high rates. For many attorneys, it can be challenging to know how to fit well-being into their bustling schedules.

In this program, Stinson’s Director of Well-Being Krista Larson will explore some of what the science says are the simple-yet-meaningful ways we can boost well-being, rethink stress, and cultivate resilience. In addition to describing practical strategies, Krista will suggest evidence-based tips for turning those strategies into habits that stick.

Focus points:

  • Understand the current attorney mental health and well-being landscape.
  • Learn the relationship between stress and peak performance in legal practice.
  • Consider practical strategies for managing stress and building resilience.
  • Make your new stress mastery habits stick using evidence-based habit-formation strategies.

Virtual speaker: Krista Larson, Stinson LLP, Minneapolis, MN

1:50-2:05 p.m. | Break

2:05-2:55 p.m. | The past, present, and future(?) of redaction requirements under section 509.520
The nation's courts have historically been the most transparent branch of government, allowing ordinary citizens and journalists alike to discern what disputes are being adjudicated, who has made what claims against whom, and also upon whose testimony the courts were relying to resolve those disputes. Despite this presumption of openness, Missouri courts have long provided that certain sensitive information related to cases should be sheltered from public view. But in 2023, the state legislature passed a bill prohibiting the inclusion of certain information in documents filed with - or issued by - this state's courts. The categories of prohibited information included the names and contact information for victims and witnesses. For the past year, courts and practitioners alike have struggled to comply with this requirement, but in May a handful of plaintiffs filed a case arguing that these discrete restrictions - as well as the bill whose passage imposed them - violate the U.S. and Missouri Constitutions. This session will discuss the past, present, and potential future of these redaction requirements.

Focus points:

  • The history of public access to court proceedings and records;
  • Circumstances in which courts historically allowed for the redaction of certain information;
  • How courts and attorneys have understood the new redaction requirements;
  • The arguments for and against the constitutionality of the new redaction requirements;
  • The current status of the litigation.

Speaker: David Roland, Freedom Center of Missouri, Mexico

2:55-3:10 p.m. | Break

3:10-4 p.m. | Conflicts of interest, nepotism, and misuse of government resources
This presentation will focus on key constitutional provisions, statutes, and case law that govern conflicts of interest, nepotism, and misuse of resources for governmental entities. 

Speaker: Jason Lewis, Office of the Attorney General, Jefferson City

4 p.m. | Adjourn

Moderator: Eric D. Jennings, Supreme Court of Missouri, Jefferson City

Opinions and positions stated by presenters of MoBarCLE programs are those of the presenters and not necessarily those of The Missouri Bar. This program is intended as information for lawyers in Missouri, in conjunction with other research they deem necessary, in the exercise of their independent judgment.

Materials

Speaker


Daniel Curry's Profile

Daniel Curry Related Seminars and Products

Brown & Curry, LLC


Dan Curry is the hotline attorney for the Missouri Press Association. His firm practices in areas of civil rights law, childhood sexual abuse, and veterans' benefits. He formally worked as a news reporter. 


Eric Jennings's Profile

Eric Jennings Related Seminars and Products

Supreme Court of Missouri


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. 


James Layton's Profile

James Layton Related Seminars and Products

Tueth Keeney Cooper Mohan Jackstadt PC


Jim Layton joined Tueth Keeney after 22 years with the Missouri Attorney General's Office. As Solicitor General, Jim handled appeals, constitutional litigation – and writs. He has argued nearly 100 appeals in the Missouri Supreme Court and four in the U.S. Supreme Court. He now assists both private clients and public entities in trial and appellate courts. 


Krista M. Larson's Profile

Krista M. Larson Related Seminars and Products

Director of Well-Being

Stinson LLP


Krista Larson serves as the Director of Well-Being at Stinson LLP. In this role, Krista leads the implementation of Stinson's vision, strategy, and programming to support the health and well-being of all constituents in alignment with the firm's values and the ABA Well-Being Pledge. 
Krista holds a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology degree from University of Pennsylvania where she studied the science of human flourishing under the founder of the field, Dr. Martin Seligman. She has a proven track record of success in the lawyer well-being area and is passionate about leveraging Positive Psychology to help all members of the legal industry thrive.

 


Jason Lewis's Profile

Jason Lewis Related Seminars and Products

Missouri Attorney General


 

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 Roland's Profile

David Roland Related Seminars and Products

Freedom Center of Missouri


Dave earned two undergraduate degrees from Abilene Christian University before receiving his law degree and a Master’s in Theology from Vanderbilt University in 2004. In 2010 Dave and his wife founded the Freedom Center of Missouri, a nonprofit, nonpartisan law firm devoted to the protection of individual liberty.


Location

The Missouri Bar Center
326 Monroe Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101

Parking Information
Metered parking is available along most of McCarty Street. Parking on McCarty Street to the west of The Missouri Bar building is 10-hr. metered parking; parking on McCarty Street to the east of The Missouri Bar building is free parking. The Missouri Bar is not responsible for parking fees for this conference. 

Cancellation Policy

Click HERE to review the Cancellation Policy.

Photo/Video/Comments Permission

MoBarCLE may take photos and video at this program. By attending, you give The Missouri Bar permission to use images or audio captured at these programs, as well as any written comment on evaluation forms, in any electronic or printed communications by The Missouri Bar and for any educational, advertising, and promotional purposes. You agree to release The Missouri Bar, its employees, agents, and designees from liability for any violation of any personal or proprietary right you may have in connection with such use.

Health and Safety Information

The Missouri Bar takes the safety and well-being of its members, the public, and its employees very seriously. We continue to monitor the latest public health updates. We will inform you of any changes to events that affect you. This includes any cancellation notices or changes to venue, format, or safety guidelines.

We encourage all attendees of Missouri Bar events to be aware of and follow public health guidelines for large gatherings. Help us keep everyone in attendance safe by not attending an event if you are ill or believe you may be contagious. 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 reasonable health and safety precautions and to abide by The Missouri Bar’s posted meeting guidelines.

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.