MoveMakers & NewsMakers July 1, 2019

July 2, 2019 - See who is making news and moving where in the weekly Missouri Bar update "MoveMakers & NewsMakers."

Members of the Missouri Attorney General's Office have been selected for a 2019 Best Brief Award from the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG). Solicitor General D. John Sauer, Deputy Solicitors Joshua M. Divine, Julie Marie Blake, and Peter T. Reed, and Assistant Attorneys General Mike Spillane and Caroline Coulter received the award for their work in Bucklew v. Precythe.

The Best Brief Awards honor the appellate practitioners from state attorneys general offices who have exhibited superb work in representing their states before the U.S. Supreme Court. Thirty-seven briefs were submitted for consideration this year. A panel of 10 independent Supreme Court experts, each of whom is a leading member of the Supreme Court bar, reviewed all submissions and selected three winners.

“The brief reflected a true team effort of many attorneys in our public safety and solicitor groups. The office proudly commends Mike Spillane, in particular, for his diligent efforts in litigating at every stage of this case,” said Solicitor General John Sauer.

Winners will be honored at a reception during the NAAG State Solicitors General and Appellate Chiefs Conference, July 11-12 in Washington, D.C.

Mid-Missouri Area

Nathan Aquino, an assistant attorney general in the criminal section of the Missouri Attorney General's Office, was awarded the David J. Dixon Appellate Advocacy Award by the Missouri Bar Foundation. The award was created by the foundation to recognize outstanding achievement in appellate practice by young lawyer members of The Missouri Bar.

The award is named after the late Judge Dixon, whose tenacity, professionalism and judicial skills epitomize outstanding appellate practice.

St. Louis Area

Jennifer Szczucinski, an assistant attorney general in the public safety section and newly-minted special assistant United States attorney with the Safer Streets Initiative in St. Louis, was awarded the Lon O. Hocker award by the Missouri Bar Foundation. This award is given to three young lawyer members of The Missouri Bar. The recipients are chosen based on their demonstrated balance between zealousness and honor, strength and courtesy, and confidence and respect. They must possess a quick wit in the courtroom that is supported by meticulous preparation in the pursuit of truth.

The award is named for Lon O. Hocker, who practiced in St. Louis for more than 50 years. Born in November of 1873, he became one of the leading trial lawyers in Missouri.

Judge Richard Goldenhersh has joined the mediation and senior arbitrator panels of United States Arbitration & Mediation (USA&M) in St. Louis. Judge Goldenhersh was a justice with the Illinois Appellate Court – 5th District for 30 years, as well as a circuit court judge and associate circuit court judge in St. Clair County, Illinois.

Bruce E. Friedman, a principal with the Clayton firm of Paule, Camazine & Blumenthal, PC, has become a family law mediator through training offered by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers ("AAML"). In addition, Friedman recently completed the negotiation skills training program offered by the AAML in partnership with the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation.

Kansas City Area

Scott M. Mann and Stephanie Tucker Muir have relocated their family law firm, Mann Tucker Muir, LLC, to 8700 State Line Road, Suite 395, Leawood, KS 66206.

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