Meet your new Board of Governors: District 12
Meet your new Board of Governors: District 12’s Christopher Dandurand, Christa Moss, and Phyllis Norman
Christopher Dandurand, Christa Moss, and Phyllis Norman were elected in August by Missouri lawyers to represent District 12, or Kansas City, on The Missouri Bar Board of Governors.
Board members are elected to serve two-year terms, which begin with the bar’s Annual Meeting in late September.
Chris Dandurand is an attorney with Gorny Dandurand, LC. He earned his J.D. from the University of Missouri School of Law. Below, Dandurand shares his thoughts on his representation of the Kansas City legal community:
What made you interested in serving on the Board of Governors?
I spent several years as a Young Lawyers’ Section (YLS) Council member. As a member of the council, I had the opportunity to interact with members of the Board of Governors on numerous occasions. I saw how much each of them valued the time they spent and connections they made on the board, and I wanted to continue my service.
What part of being on the board are you most excited about?
Helping the Board of Governors become more visible to attorneys that may not have had much reason to interact with the board up to this point in their career.
What do you want the lawyers you represent to know?
The Missouri Bar has endless opportunities for attorneys to get involved in ways that go beyond your day-to-day practice. If you want more out of your career as an attorney than showing up to work and going home at the end of the day, you should look at getting involved with The Missouri Bar. You will not regret it!
What do you enjoy most about The Missouri Bar?
The staff at The Missouri Bar go above and beyond to make our lives and practices better. If you have questions or need help with something, you can always count on them.
Christa Moss is an assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Missouri. She earned her J.D. from The College of William and Mary - Marshall Wythe School of Law. Below, she shares her goals while serving on the board:
What made you interested in serving on the Board of Governors?
I learned about the Board of Governors and the work of The Missouri Bar after participating in Leadership Academy. I was surprised to learn how much the bar did for the public. I started volunteering to present at Mini Law School and was eventually elected to the YLS Council. During my second YLS term, a mentor encouraged me to consider running for an open board seat. I was initially hesitant to step away from YLS because I deeply enjoyed the community service and Continuing Legal Education (CLE) work we were doing. I soon recognized that serving on the board would give me an opportunity to represent young attorneys, government attorneys, and attorneys of color, who were underrepresented on the board, while also allowing me to be involved in policy decisions and programming that impact both the legal community and the public.
What part of being on the board are you most excited about?
I am most excited about continuing to work with attorneys from across the state to create and implement engaging programming that will help lawyers meet their CLE requirements.
What do you want the lawyers you represent to know?
I am passionate about bringing diverse perspectives to everything I do. I love collaborating with others and planning programs and events.
What do you enjoy most about The Missouri Bar?
I enjoy how committed the bar is to serving both lawyers and the community. I really appreciate how routinely we review our strategic direction and strive to make sure everything we continue to do or want to do aligns with our stated goals. After four terms in bar leadership, what I truly most enjoy about the bar is our Missouri Bar staff. They are innovative, committed, passionate, generous with their time, and work tirelessly to curate professional meetings for lawyers and civic education for the public, as well as maintain numerous resources and programming that facilitates access to justice for all Missouri citizens. Our bar would not be the same without them.
Phyllis Norman is a lawyer with Norman and Graves, LLC. She earned her J.D. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. Below, she offers her thoughts on being elected to the board.
What made you interested in serving on the Board of Governors?
I have been involved in many bar organizations locally and on committees through The Missouri Bar, all of which have shaped and influenced my career in a wonderful way. The thought of serving on the board for the largest bar organization in the state is an honor and that is why I was interested.
What part of being on the board are you most excited about?
I am most excited about getting involved with lawyers from across the state to work on goals to improve the state as a whole. The Missouri Bar will give me an opportunity to make a difference.
What do you want the lawyers you represent to know?
I want the lawyers I represent to know I am always in their corner and will fight big or small for them as it relates to their case.
What do you enjoy most about The Missouri Bar?
So far, I have enjoyed the connections I am making and the camaraderie and shared purpose we all have in working for the lawyers across this state.