Executive summary: Building together

Mischa Buford Epps, Missouri Bar executive director

This summer, as I have walked into The Missouri Bar Center in Jefferson City, I’ve been reminded of the powerful way Missouri lawyers can — and do — come together for the greater good.

Over 60 years ago, lawyers across Missouri came together by donating more than $450,000 to build the main building of The Missouri Bar Center. The Bar Center building, a concrete manifestation of the collaboration and generosity of our state’s legal community, was dedicated on Law Day, May 1, 1965. 

As Flavius B. Freeman, then-chair of the Trustees of The Missouri Bar, said of the center in 1965:

The things we do for ourselves die with us, while the things we do for others live on forever. If our new Bar Center will help lawyers to better serve our clients – if it will cause the lawyer of tomorrow to think more highly of the profession and do a better job than those of us who have gone before, the reward for all of us should be more than adequate.

Guests attending the building’s dedication were able to hear from lawyer Lewis F. Powell Jr., then-American Bar Association president and future justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, who offered words of inspiration:

The dedication of The Missouri Bar Center is much more than the ceremonial opening of the splendid new home of your organization. It reflects the progressive leadership which has brought The Missouri Bar to high rank among the state bar organizations of the country. The Center is both a symbol of past achievements and of hopes for the future.

Missouri lawyers will have the opportunity to hear from another ABA president, St. Louis lawyer Bill Bay, at The Missouri Bar Annual Meeting and Judicial Conference, Sept. 17-19 in Branson. It’s always enjoyable to connect with familiar faces and build new professional relationships throughout the bar’s summer conference season, and I look forward to connecting with more of you and celebrating the beginning of another bar year during Annual Meeting.

The three-day event will include opportunities to network with fellow lawyers and judges, earn CLE, and take part in the business of the bar while also recognizing the extraordinary contributions of our colleagues. You can learn more and register at MoBar.org/AM25. 

This year’s plenary sessions are not to be missed. This first plenary will explore the intricacies, strengths, and weaknesses of our legal system as we hear the story of Darryl Burton, an innocent man, who was wrongfully convicted of a murder that he did not commit and spent 24 years in a Missouri prison before being exonerated. 

With perspectives from the bench, bar, academia, legislature, and private practice, a separate plenary panel will speak to the current moment, addressing the impact on Missouri lawyers’ practices of 2025’s expansive, rapid changes in federal and state laws and agencies and the challenges to the independent judiciary and the ability of lawyers and law firms to represent clients without repercussions. 

The recent tornados in St. Louis and greater Missouri have served as another reminder to me that we, as lawyers, have unique opportunities to come together and help others in our community, regardless of our practice areas, geographic locations, or political affiliations. I have been inspired by the numerous lawyers who have volunteered and assisted on-site, answered questions from impacted individuals via Missouri.FreeLegalAnswers.org, or responded to callers through our Missouri Bar Disaster Hotline. Thank you. Your efforts are appreciated and are making a difference. 

By working together as lawyers, we can continue to improve the legal profession, the administration of justice, and the law on behalf of the public, and, as suggested by Trustee Freeman, watch those efforts live on. 

Best regards, 
Mischa