2025 Missouri Bar Senior Counselors offer advice

Each year, The Missouri Bar designates a group of lawyers as “Senior Counselors.” To become a Senior Counselor, a lawyer must reach the age of 75 or have been admitted to The Missouri Bar for 50 years. The Missouri Bar asked this year's class to share some words of wisdom with their fellow Missouri lawyers — specifically those recently admitted to the bar. Here's what some of them said:

Senior Counselor name	Advice
Hon. David Hamilton Ash	Be polite and considerate at all times. It is a long alley that doesn’t have a few trash cans. Always be truthful.
Ted H. Bartelstone	“Credibility is one of those things that are far easier to maintain than to repair.” – Thomas Sowell
Joseph L. Bauer Jr.	Know the law, treat everyone including judges, clerks, court employees, clients opposing counsel, jurors and everyone else with respect, and give you best effort in every case.
Larry Lee Beard	The greatest reward of being a member of the legal profession is witnessing your clients pick up the pieces after an accident and returning to a successful life.
Larry Keith Bratvold	Choose your clients, choose your cases wisely. Everything you do hinges upon those choices.
Stephen J. Briggs	Always treat each client, whether big or small, with respect. Give back to the communities in which you live. By doing so, you will not only improve your community, but yourself as well.
John Willialm Bruffett	Maintain personal contact with opposing counsel, much more productive than texting and email communications.
James Kevin Checkett	Good lawyers solve problems. Bad lawyers create problems.
Joe Crosthwait	Proofread your filings.
Thomas Cicardi DeVoto	The practice of law is a great profession. Treat it with respect and dignity that it deserves and the law, the bar, the members of the judiciary, and your peers will treat you the same. This may sound “simplistic” but my father who was an attorney once told me that all circumstances can be boiled down to “always do the right thing.” The practice of law allowed me to put that “simplistic” statement into action, literally. When you do the right thing, you can not only feel good about what you did but feel good about yourself as well. To be clear, I have lost cases that I tried but I gave my clients both my best and their day in court. In the final analysis, you have to feel good practicing law regardless of the outcome. The law always gives a lawyer the opportunity “to do the right thing.”
Blair K. Drazic	Stand up for ordinary people. Missouri has a strong tradition of trying jury cases; keep it up.
Susan Freedman Grammer	Being an attorney is a full-time job. The more time you dedicate to your law practice, the happier, the more fulfilled, and more successful you will be. Behind every good attorney there is good staff support.
Gerald P. Greiman	Be prepared!
George Larry Gundy	Conduct your practice so that when you give your word, no one feels that they need it in writing.
David W. Hall Jr.	Celebrate your wins, forget your loses.
M. Ann Hatch	Keep your word. Your word is your bond. Treat others as you would like to be treated.
John L. Hayob	The practice of law is a business. No attorney can maintain a practice without clients and bringing in funds necessary to sustain the practice. However, it is also a profession, with standards of conduct which must be followed to maintain our integrity as a professional. Sometimes these two propositions come into conflict. The profession should always trump the business.
Jack Hilton	Retire while you can still be active and enjoy life.
Ronald Elamyn Johnson	Do not do anything that will cause someone to doubt your integrity.
Elizabeth M. Kessel	Be clever, but not dishonest. Be firm, but not unkind. Respect your clients.
Linda S. Legg	Strive to be a creative problem solver and an admired legal professional. Maintain civility and integrity. Earn the trust and respect of others. May you have a career as rewarding as I have had.
Thomas Arthur Ludwig	Be honest. Be curious.
Hon. Edward Maschil Manring	There is no substitute for preparation.
Ira Edward Marquette	1. The worst advice you can ever give a client is “No one will ever find out.” 2. If you can’t act like a lawyer, at least dress like one. 3. If what you have written is wrong, no one will care how promptly you responded.
Kenneth C. McManaman	The practice of law is sadly changing from a profession into a business. Be a professional and maintain integrity, honesty, civility, and honor in the way you practice law. Never forget you are an officer of the court and let your behavior reflect the dignity of our imperfect justice system, always attempting to make the system better by your actions, comments, and representations. Finally, always do more pro bono work than demanded by our bar and the Supreme Court of Missouri. In all endeavors be ethical. Service and sacrifice are what life is all about.
Stephen Barney Naioti	Take great care of every client and you will never lack for a client.
James A. Nadolski	Call, text, email people back as quick as you can. Be kind to people, even the attorneys who don’t deserve it. Be on time for everything, always be honest about money, client expectations, outcomes, etc.
Michael Gerard Newbold	My legal career has been a very rewarding experience. My mentors, Hon. Robert A. Meyers and Alber J. Yonke, made it all possible. My law partners provided daily encouragement and support. I hope that I provided my clients competent representation.
T. Michael Payne	I am licensed in five states but chose to go inactive in all but Missouri. The Missouri Bar was my first and for 50 years it has done a superb job. I am proud to be a member.
Dennis Michael Peffley	Never compromise your professional standards and always uphold the rule of law.
Francis E. Pennington III	Listen, be curious, be prepared. Always be mindful of what an honor it is to be a lawyer and a member of the bar.
Kathy Peters	Be patient. Read everything carefully and think about it for awhile before acting. Have a firm handshake.
H. Boone Porter III	Know cold every fact of your case; why it’s important; and how you will prove it. Similarly, know all the laws that support you and be able to distinguish cases that don’t. Be a critical thinker. In crafting your argument, imagine your opponent’s best arguments and be able to rebut them. Finally, always be intellectually honest.
Daniel Taylor Ramsdell	Justice for ALL.
Hon. Roy L. Richter	Never thought I’d make it this far….
Richard Edwards Rose	Send a letter of representation to clients outlining possible outcomes and copy of representation contracts. Do not procrastinate.
Wm. Dennis Sheppard	Ignore the jokes. Honor the profession and yourself!
Richard Shinners	Enjoy the journey.
James I. Singer	I feel only gratitude for my wonderful career as an attorney.
Jimmie Dewayne Stokley	Be prepared.
Ernest G. Trakas	Seek out the area of law that you are passionate about and devote your career to it. If you do so you will never “work” a day in your life.
Stephen E. Walsh	Watch lots of trials, absorb techniques like a sponge; specialize!
Hon. M. Keithley Williams	Honesty and integrity are more than just concepts. These characteristics should be on the top of a lawyer’s list of achievements.
Michael K. Whitehead	Micah 6:8, He has shown you, O Mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Walter E. Williams	Your job is to help them, not judge them. Always be honest with everyone, including opposing counsel.
Martin Zehr, Ph.D., J.D.	Keep an open mind about the type of law you think you’d like to practice.
Peter Douglas Zeughauser	Honor your oath and the rule of law. Give back to the community. Stay healthy.