Nominate a young lawyer for Leadership Academy by May 30

Editor's note: This article was updated to reflect the deadline for Leadership Academy nominations being extended to May 30. The original deadline was May 23.

The Missouri Bar Leadership Academy has offered networking and leadership development opportunities for young lawyers over the last 25 years, graduating more than 270 leaders in the legal profession. Now, it’s your turn to help nominate the next class of leaders. If you know exceptional young lawyers who have shown outstanding leadership skills in their communities, nominate them for the 2025-2026 Missouri Bar Leadership Academy class!

Complete the online nomination form by May 30. Following the nomination period, each nominee will receive an application to complete. A selection committee will review the applications and nominations before selecting the next Leadership Academy class.

Established in 2000, Leadership Academy encourages diversity among the bar’s leadership by recruiting and targeting young lawyers (under the age of 40) or those recently admitted to the bar (no more than 10 years ago) who have already shown leadership qualities. Each class contains about a dozen lawyers who are diverse in terms of gender, race, practice area, and geography. 

Leadership Academy members 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 create a public service project. At the end of the year, class members commit to serve the bar in an active capacity for two years.

Many Leadership Academy alumni have served on The Missouri Bar Board of Governors, on Young Lawyers’ Section Council, as committee and section chairs, and as presenters at popular Missouri Bar conferences like MOSOLO Small Firm Conference, Bernard Edelman DWI Law & Science Seminar, and Annual Meeting. 

Read from Leadership Academy alumni Hon. Jalilah Otto, Portia Britt, Scott Robbins, and Cara Stuckel about how the program helped them advance in their legal careers.

Click here to read how a casual conversation at a restaurant created this 25-year-old Missouri Bar program.

If you have questions about Leadership Academy, contact Dr. Tony Simones at TSimones@mobar.org.