Meet the 2024-2025 Leadership Academy class

Twelve young lawyers have been selected to participate in the 2024-2025 Missouri Bar Leadership Academy. Individuals selected for the program are:   

- Bethany Allen, Thompson Coburn LLP, St. Louis

- Brittany Chapman, Missouri Department of Social Services Administrative Hearings, St. Louis

- Sean Connelly, Missouri State Public Defender St. Louis City Trial Office, St. Louis

- Courtney Klaus, Polsinelli PC, Overland Park

- Craig Lowe, Missouri State Public Defender, Carthage

- John McKenzie, Missouri Attorney General’s Office, Jefferson City

- Mariajose Ortiz, Saint Louis University School of Law, St. Louis

- Jeremy Peissig, Sedey Harper Westhoff PC, St. Louis

- Kelly “Koki” Sabates, DeVaughn James Injury Lawyers, Kansas City

- Darrell Smith, U.S. District Court, Kansas City

- Monica Spier, Cisar Law Firm PC, Lake Ozark

- Holly Weiss, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg

The Leadership Academy was developed in 2000 to encourage diversity among the bar’s leadership by recruiting young lawyers (those recently admitted to the bar under the age of 40 or those admitted for 10 years or fewer) who have already shown leadership qualities within their communities. Each class contains about a dozen lawyers who are diverse in terms of sex, race, ethnicity, practice area, and geography.  

Leadership Academy classes participate in The Missouri Bar’s Annual Meeting, Board of Governors and committee meetings, and workshops designed to help the class learn more about the bar, develop leadership skills, and complete a service project. At the end of the year, class members commit to serve the bar in an active capacity for two years, such as serving on the Young Lawyers’ Section Council or committees and presenting continuing legal education programs. The 2024-2025 class will officially launch its year-long program in October. 

Learn more about Leadership Academy and the impacts its graduates have had on the profession here.