It is time again for the Kansas City division of the high school Missouri Mock Trial Competition.  The first round of competition takes place on Tuesday, January 16, 2018 and Thursday, January 18, 2018.  The second round takes place on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 and Thursday, February 22, 2018.  

The Lawyers Association of Kansas City - Young Lawyers Section is looking for attorneys and law students to serve as judges for the competition, which will take place downtown at the Jackson County Courthouse.  The competition begins at 5:30pm each night and will wrap up by 9pm (dinner will be provided).  Judges are asked to arrive at the courthouse by 5:30pm.

This is a great opportunity to see how enthusiastic these high school students are about the law, and can reenergize and remind us why we love what we do!

If you are interested in judging and would like to participate, please contact Martin Rice (martin.rice@dentons.com) or Cassandra Robinson (crocx@allstate.com). 

CLE CREDIT:  Missouri will offer self-study CLE credit for judging at the Mock Trial Competition.  Attorneys may claim up to 6 hours of self-study CLE/year.  LAKC can provide a letter for your records if desired.  

The American Board of Trial Advocates, KCMBA's Trial Academy, KCMBA's Federal Court Advocate Section, MODL, WDMO/DKAN Federal Bar Association, LAKC, and the Civil Jury Project are sponsoring the first Kansas City Jury Improvement Lunch on Wednesday, November 1 at noon at the Charles Evans Whittaker Courthouse, 400 9th Street, Kansas City, MO 64106.  This lunch will be hosted by the following law firms: Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice, Bartimus Frickleton Robertson, Berkowitz Oliver, German May, Gorny Law Firm, Littler Mendelson, Shaffer Lombardo Shurin, and White Graham Buckley & Carr.  Others may join as sponsors or hosts.  The purpose of the lunch is to honor the jurors and to learn from them about what can be done to improve civil trials. 

We are asking practicing lawyers to pay $19 for their own lunches.   The cost of the lunches for the judges and jurors will be shared by the host law firms.   We are in the process of arranging for the lawyers who attend to receive credit for their continuing legal education requirements.  Anyone interested in improving their trial skills will not want to miss this lunch.  It was the overwhelming consensus of those lawyers and judges who attended our previous lunch that it was informative and should be repeated at regular intervals.      Because we assign tables (to make sure the lawyers from the same firms, the judges and the jurors are divided) and have limited space, we ask that you make a reservation in advance if you want to attend. You can do so by using this link: http://civiljuryproject.law.nyu.edu/jury-improvement-lunch-registration/.                           

LAKC presented its Legacy Award to Kent R. Erickson during its annual Judicial Reception on Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at the Kill Devil Club. In 2007, the LAKC Board of Directors established the Legacy Award to recognize an individual for his or her significant and enduring contributions to the LAKC and its mission. Prior recipients include Sylvan Siegler, Stanley P. Weiner and B. John Readey III. The meaningful and lasting service Kent has provided to the LAKC clearly meets this key criterion.

Kent R. Erickson practices in the field of intellectual property law, focusing primarily on the acquisition, registration, maintenance and enforcement of patents, trademarks and copyrights for his clients, with particular emphasis on U.S. and foreign patent prosecution in the mechanical and chemical arts. Mr. Erickson is a registered patent attorney and is licensed to practice in Missouri and Kansas.

Mr. Erickson graduated cum laude in 1986 with his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla and received his law degree from the University of Kansas in 1990. He has taken an active role in the legal community, serving as President for the Lawyers Association of Kansas City from 2007-08. In addition, Mr. Erickson founded and continues to organize LAKC's annual IP CLE program. Mr. Erickson was also one of the founding organizers of LAKC's Run for Justice 5K, which raises funds annually for Legal Aid of Western Missouri. Mr. Erickson has previously served as the Chair of the Patent, Trademark & Copyright Committee for both the Missouri Bar and for the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, as a member of The Missouri Bar Young Lawyers Council, as a director and as President of the Young Lawyers Section of the Lawyers Association of Kansas City and as Vice Chair of the Ethics and Professionalism Committee of the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyer Division.

Pictured L to R: Catherine Bell, LAKC President-Elect; Mike Hargens, LAKC President; Kent Erickson, LAKC Legacy Award Recipient; Gregg Lombardi, LAKC member; Anne Baggott, LAKC Board of Directors.

The Lawyers Association of Kansas City will present its Legacy Award to Kent R. Erickson on June 27, 2017 during the association's annual Judicial Reception.

Kent R. Erickson practices in the field of intellectual property law, focusing primarily on the acquisition, registration, maintenance and enforcement of patents, trademarks and copyrights for his clients, with particular emphasis on U.S. and foreign patent prosecution in the mechanical and chemical arts. Mr. Erickson is a registered patent attorney and is licensed to practice in Missouri and Kansas.

Mr. Erickson graduated cum laude in 1986 with his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla and received his law degree from the University of Kansas in 1990. He has taken an active role in the legal community, serving as President for the Lawyers Association of Kansas City from 2007-08. In addition, Mr. Erickson founded and continues to organize LAKC's annual IP CLE program. Mr. Erickson was also one of the founding organizers of LAKC's Run for Justice 5K, which raises funds annually for Legal Aid of Western Missouri. Mr. Erickson has previously served as the Chair of the Patent, Trademark & Copyright Committee for both the Missouri Bar and for the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, as a member of The Missouri Bar Young Lawyers Council, as a director and as President of the Young Lawyers Section of the Lawyers Association of Kansas City and as Vice Chair of the Ethics and Professionalism Committee of the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyer Division.

In 2007, the LAKC Board of Directors established the Legacy Award to recognize an individual for his or her significant and enduring contributions to the LAKC and its mission. Prior recipients include Sylvan Siegler, Stanley P. Weiner and B. John Readey III. The meaningful and lasting service Kent has provided to the LAKC clearly meets this key criterion.

The LAKC Legacy Award will be presented to Kent during LAKC's annual Judicial Reception on Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at the Kill Devil Club, 31 East 14th Street in the Power & Light District. The reception will be held from 5 to 7pm and the award presentation will take place at approximately 6:00 pm.

The following slate of officers and directors will be presented for a vote at the LAKC Annual Meeting on May 9, 2017 at Tom's Town:

2017-18 Board of Directors

President: Mike Hargens
President-Elect: Catherine Bell
Secretary/Treasurer: Tim West

Anne Baggott
Anna Berman
Anna Louise Hawes
Ty Hudson
Mark Iba
Mike Judy
Derek MacKay
Travis McCallon
Dan McClain
Chris Mirakian
Casey Murray
Jennifer Oldvader
Rick Shearer
Lindsay Todd Perkins
Jennifer Wieman Earles

Past-President: Brian Baggott

All LAKC members are welcome and encouraged to attend the Annual Meeting and Happy Hour. No RSVP required; no cost to attend.  

The Lawyers Association of Kansas City-Young Lawyers Section elections for the 2017-18 Board of Directors will be held May 9, 2017 from 4:30pm - 6:30pm at Tom's Town, 1701 Main ST, Kansas City, MO. LAKC-YLS members are invited to vote for up to three (3) candidates on the ballot by mail, email or in person on May 9th. A link to the ballot is provided below.

INSTRUCTIONS:

You must be a member of LAKC-YLS to vote. One ballot per YLS member.

Please vote for up to three (3) of the following candidates for the LAKC-YLS Board of Directors by marking the box next to the candidate's name.

Please return this ballot to Tyler Scott by e-mail to tyler.scott@huschblackwell.com or by U.S. mail to Tyler Scott, Husch Blackwell LLP, 4801 Main Street, Suite 1000, Kansas City, Missouri 64112. Ballots, whether sent by e-mail or U.S. mail, must be received prior to 5 p.m. on May 9, 2017, to be counted. If you prefer to vote in person, you may do so at the LAKC-YLS Elections on May 9, 2017, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Tom’s Town, 1701 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri.

LAKC-YLS 17-18 Ballot.pdf

The Young Lawyers Section of the Lawyers Association of Kansas City is now accepting applications for the 2017-18 YLS Board of Directors. Interested candidates should complete the application provided and submit to Tyler Scott at tyler.scott@huschblackwell.com on or before April 27, 2017.

The Young Lawyers Section of LAKC is comprised of members under 35 or who have graduated from law school within the past five years and maintain “service of public interest by advancing the role of the legal profession in serving the public” as a value.

Elections will be held on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 @ Tom's Town Distilling Co., 1701 Main ST, Kansas City MO.

LAKC YLS Application Board of Directors 4.17.pdf

The following changes to the YLS Bylaws have been recommended for approval at the YLS Board of Directors in April 2017.

LAKC-YLS proposed bylaws changes 4.2017.pdf

Representative Keith Frederick (R – Phelps/Pulaski counties), who sits on the Special Committee on Employment Security introduced a bill that seeks to modify RSMo 431.202 in such a way that non-compete agreements between employers and employees entered into after August 28, 2017 would not be enforceable. Obviously, this type of legislation would be popular with employees subject to these type of post-employment restrictions and not with employers.

I believe the bill was pre-filed. It was introduced and had its first reading on January 5, 2017 and read a second time on January 9, 2017. It was referred to Workforce Development on January 25 and had a public hearing on February 1. Action was postponed on the bill on February 8, 2017 and now it sits. I don’t believe this bill is going anywhere this session.

Tim West, MO Legislative Monitor
LAKC Board of Directors