2021 Annual Meeting will feature new concepts and long-standing traditions

Each year, lawyers and judges from across the state gather for The Missouri Bar’s Annual Meeting. The conference, which marks the end of the bar year, includes opportunities for continuing legal education, networking, and meeting new Missouri Bar leadership. Due to lingering concerns regarding COVID-19 and its variants, the 2021 programming will take place virtually, allowing even more lawyers to attend and the chance for advance and encore programming.  

The Missouri Bar’s 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting kicks off Sept. 8 with early learning sessions focused on ethics and best practices for new - and not so new - lawyers. These sessions are included with each registration for Annual Meeting, but can also be purchased separately.  

Traditional programming begins Monday, Sept. 20, and will include more than 20 CLE sessions divided into five tracks: All About Business; Family Law; LawFusion 2021; All About Litigation; and Program, Trust, and Elder Law. In addition, attendees will have access to three plenary sessions, with national experts leading conversations on a range of timely topics.  

Wednesday, Sept. 22, Denise Robinson will discuss the nexus between diversity, equity, and inclusion and lawyer well-being. Josh Douglas, Travis Crum, Chad Flanders, Atiba Ellis, and Denise Lieberman will take the virtual stage on Thursday, Sept. 23, to examine voting rights in a constitutional, legal, and historical context. And Friday, Sept. 24, will include a conversation about Internet regulations featuring Jeffrey Kosseff, Thom Lambert, and Lyrissa Lidsky. 

Of course, no Annual Meeting is complete without formal ceremonies, and three key ones will be shared online. On Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2020-21 Missouri Bar President John Gunn will recognize the recipients of the President’s Awards and provide farewell remarks. Chief Justice Paul C. Wilson will address lawyers on Thursday, Sept. 23. And, finally, Friday, Sept. 24, President-Elect John Grimm will be sworn in as 2021-22 Missouri Bar president.  

If you can’t make it to a session, don’t panic! The bar will hold five encore sessions Sept. 27-Oct. 1.  

To learn more and register for the 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting, visit MoBar.org.