Top 5 takeaways: September-October 2026 Journal of The Missouri Bar

1. As 2026-2027 Missouri Bar president, Jennifer M. Crompton hopes to empower Missouri lawyers to even better serve their clients and communities through a focus on education — informing lawyers and Missourians about judicial retention elections, access to legal services in rural communities, and alternative dispute resolution programs. Read more here.

2. The generation-skipping transfer-exempt Missouri dynasty trust allows family farmers to keep the land in the family while giving on-farm heirs sufficient control to keep the farm operating and off-farm heirs the benefit of the family’s resources. Read more about how Missouri’s rule against perpetuities reform and favorable trust law make it a prime jurisdiction for such dynasty trust planning in this article by Kathleen Overton.

3. Hon. W. Brent Powell, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri, recently addressed hundreds of lawyers and judges during the opening lunch of the joint Annual Meeting of The Missouri Bar and the Judicial Conference of Missouri on Sept. 17 in Kansas City. Read his full speech about how the oath of admission’s has endured over 250 years.

4. Congratulations to the 287 Missouri lawyers who were recognized as this year’s Senior Counselors! The Senior Counselor recognition includes those Missouri Bar members who currently hold an active license in good standing who have been admitted to The Missouri Bar for 50 years or will reach the age of 75 during the current bar enrollment year of Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2026. View the list.

5. As determined by the Advisory Committee to the Supreme Court of Missouri, 11 new informal opinion summaries have been published in 2026. View the full compiled list here. 

Download and read the full Journal issue here.