The University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law is a public

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

located on the main campus of the

University of Missouri-Kansas City A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, near the

Country Club Plaza The Country Club Plaza (often called The Plaza) is a privately-owned regional shopping center in the Country Club District of Kansas City, Missouri. Opened in 1923, it was the first planned suburban shopping center and the first regional shoppi ...

. It was founded in 1895 as the Kansas City School of Law, a private, independent law school located in

Downtown Kansas City Downtown Kansas City is the central business district (CBD) of Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City metropolitan area. It is between the Missouri River in the north, to 31st Street in the south; and from the Kansas–Missouri state line east ...

, and was purchased by the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1938. The law school moved to UMKC's main campus soon after, where it is accredited by the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

and is a member of the

Association of American Law Schools The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 176 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non ...

Rankings

The school is ranked #114 best law school in the U.S., placing it in the third tier according to the four tier system of law schools based on the ''U.S. News & World Report'' Annual Rankings (2023 rankings). In 2017, the ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked the Trial Advocacy Program as number 21 in the nation, tied with Stanford University, University of Georgia, University of Houston, and Campbell University (North Carolina). UMKC School of Law has repeatedly been ranked as a "Best Value Law School" by ''The National Jurist''. In the Fall 2017 of ''preLaw Magazine,'' UMKC was given an A− designation on the list of "Best Value Law Schools." In the Winter 2018 issue of ''preLaw Magazine'', a ''National Jurist'' publication, UMKC School of Law was ranked A− on the list of Best Schools for Trial Advocacy. In Spring 2018, UMKC School of Law was recognized as a top Upper Midwest School for its Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation course and entrepreneurship concentration. In the same issue, it was given an A− on the list of "Best Schools of Practical Training." The law school was also given an A− in Intellectual Property and Tax Law and B+ in Technology Law. In April 2018 a student team from UMKC was recognized as National Champion and also won the Best Draft Award at the Transactional LawMeet, the leading transactional moot court competition for law school students. UMKC School of Law Continuing Legal Education (CLE) program was ranked the #1 traditional CLE program provider in the state of Kansas by the Kansas CLE Commission (Missouri does not have these rankings for CLE).

History

It is one of four law schools in Missouri (

St. Louis University School of Law Saint Louis University School of Law, also known as SLU LAW, is a private American law school located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the professional graduate schools of Saint Louis University. The University hosted a law school briefly fro ...

, University of Missouri Columbia School of Law,

Washington University School of Law Washington University in St. Louis School of Law (WashULaw) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private university in St. Louis, Missouri. WashULaw has consistently ranked among the top law schools in the country; it is ...

). It is one of seven American law schools to have had both a

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

(

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

) and a Justice of the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

(

Charles Evans Whittaker Charles Evans Whittaker (February 22, 1901 – November 26, 1973) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1957 to 1962. After working in private practice in Kansas City, Missouri, he was nominated for the United States Di ...

) attend. Truman attended but did not graduate from the law school and never practiced law. However, Truman served as the presiding judge at the historic Truman Courthouse in Independence, MO. The other schools that have had President-Supreme Court graduates who practiced law are

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

, the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

, the

University of Cincinnati College of Law The University of Cincinnati College of Law was founded in 1833 as the Cincinnati Law School. It is the fourth oldest continuously running law school in the United States — after Harvard, the University of Virginia, and Yale — and the first in ...

, and the

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at A ...

. In February 2017, UMKC received forty linear feet of private papers for Justice Charles Evan Whittaker from the U.S. Supreme Court Archive. The archivist is curating these documents at the Miller Nichols LaBudde Special Collections Library. UMKC School of Law Stained Glass Window

Clinics

Eight clinical programs permit students, acting under faculty supervision, to develop legal skills and learn professional values in actual practice settings: *Abandoned Housing Clinic *Advocacy Master Class *Appellate Practice (Unemployment) Clinic *Child & Family Services Clinic *Death Penalty Clinic *Entrepreneurial Legal Services Clinic *Guardian Ad Litem Workshop *Intellectual Property Clinic *Kansas City Tax Clinic *UMKC Innocence Project/Wrongful Convictions Clinic

Publications

*''The UMKC Law Review'' *''Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers''

Employment

According to UMKC School of Law's official 2017 ABA-required disclosures, 74.07% of the Class of 2017 obtained full-time, long-term, bar passage required ten months after graduation. The same 2017 ABA-required disclosures reports that 89.62% of the Class of 2017 obtained bar passage required or J.D. advantage positions. UMKC School of Law'
Law School Transparency
under-employment score is 23%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2016 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job ten months after graduation.

Costs

Tuition and fees for 2017-2018, full-time, first year law students who are Missouri residents: $19,038/year. Non-resident fees are an additional $16,318, but many students qualify for non-resident fee scholarships that allow them to pay the in-state rate while they establish Missouri residency. The approximate cost of attendance (including the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at UMKC School of Law for the nine-month academic year for a typical first-year, Missouri resident, law student living off campus is $34,488.

Notable alumni

Politics

* Edwin J. Brown (class of 1899),

Mayor of Seattle The Mayor of Seattle is the head of the executive branch of the city government of Seattle, Washington. The mayor is authorized by the city charter to enforce laws enacted by the Seattle City Council, as well as direct subordinate officers in ci ...

* Barbara Allen (class of 1985), Kansas politician * Edward F. Arn (class of 1932), 32nd

Governor of Kansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

* James P. Aylward (class of 1908), Missouri politician associated with the

Tom Pendergast Thomas Joseph Pendergast (July 22, 1872 – January 26, 1945), also known as T. J. Pendergast, was an American political boss who controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri, from 1925 to 1939. Pendergast only briefly held elected ...

political machine * William M. Boyle (class of 1926), Chairman,

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

(1949–51) * Hilary A. Bush (class of 1932), Lieutenant Governor of Missouri (1961–65) * George H. Combs, Jr. (class of 1921), Missouri politician *

Scott Ferris Scott Ferris (November 3, 1877 – June 8, 1945) was a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma. Early life Ferris was born in Neosho, Missouri to Scott and Annie M. Ferris.

(class of 1901), Oklahoma politician * Jolie Justus (class of 1998), Missouri politician * Clarence M. Kelley (class of 1940),

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a United States' federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI Director is appointed for a single ...

(1973–78) * Wesley Lloyd (class of 1906), U.S. Representative from Washington * Susan Montee (class of 2000),

State Auditor of Missouri The state auditor of Missouri is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Missouri. Thirty-eight individuals have occupied the office of state auditor since statehood. The incumbent is Nicole G ...

(2007–present) *

Edward H. Moore Edward Hall Moore (November 19, 1871September 2, 1950) was a United States senator from Oklahoma from 1943 to 1949. Early years Born on a farm near Maryville, Missouri, Moore attended the public schools and Chillicothe, Missouri, Chillicothe No ...

(class of 1900),

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from Oklahoma (1942–49) * Jim Polsinelli (class of 1969), founder Polsinelli law firm *

William J. Randall William Joseph Randall (July 16, 1909 – July 7, 2000) was a member of the United States House of Representatives. He was a member of the Democratic Party from Missouri. Early life and early career Randall was born in Independence, Missouri ...

(class of 1936), Missouri politician *

Katheryn Shields Katheryn Shields (born Oct. 24, 1946) is a Kansas City, Missouri Democratic Party politician who has served as the Kansas City councilwoman for the 4th district at-large since 2015. She previously served as Jackson County, Missouri County Exec ...

(class of 1978), Jackson County, Missouri Executive (1995–2006) * Roger C. Slaughter (class of 1932), Missouri politician *

(attended), 33rd President of the United States (1945–53); 34th

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

(1945); U.S. Senator from Missouri (1935–1945) *

Sarah Lucille Turner Sarah Lucille Turner, later known as Sarah Turner Jepson (March 28, 1898 – April 12, 1972), was a Missouri lawyer and politician who later went on to a career at ''Newsweek''. With Mellcene Thurman Smith, she was one of the first two women ele ...

(class of 1922), one of the first two women elected to the

Missouri General Assembly The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Senate and a 163-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the General Assembly are ...

Judiciary

* Bower Slack Broaddus (class of 1910), Judge, United States District Courts for the Western District of Oklahoma, Eastern District of Oklahoma, and Northern District of Oklahoma (1940–49) * Wesley E. Brown (class of 1933), Judge,

United States District Court for the District of Kansas The United States District Court for the District of Kansas (in case citations, D. Kan.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Kansas. The Court operates out of the Robert J. Dole United States Courthouse in Kansas Ci ...

(1962–2012) (was oldest serving federal judge at 103 years old) * Gary A. Fenner (class of 1973), Judge,

United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri The United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri (in case citations, W.D. Mo.) is the federal judicial district encompassing 66 counties in the western half of the State of Missouri. The Court is based in the Charles Evans ...

(1996–present) *

Zel Fischer Zel M. Fischer (born April 28, 1963) is an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri. Judge Fischer served a two-year term as chief justice from 2017 until 2019. A native of Watson, he received his undergraduate degree from William Jewell C ...

(class of 1988), Judge,

Supreme Court of Missouri The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...

(2008–present) * Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. (class of 1974), Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri (1991–present) *

Shelby Highsmith Shelby Highsmith (January 31, 1929 – December 2, 2015) was an American lawyer and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Education and career Highsmith was born on January 31, ...

(class of 1958), Judge,

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (in case citations, S.D. Fla. or S.D. Fl.) is the federal United States district court with territorial jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida.. Appeals ...

(1991–2002) * Rubey Mosley Hulen (class of 1914), Judge,

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (in case citations, E.D. Mo.) is a trial level federal district court based in St. Louis, Missouri, with jurisdiction over fifty counties in the eastern half of Missouri. Th ...

(1943–56) * Charles Henry Leavy (class of 1912), Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (1942–51) * Arthur Johnson Mellott (class of 1917), Judge,

(1947–57) * Ross Rizley (class of 1915), Judge, United States District Courts for the Western District of Oklahoma, (1956–69) * Edward D. Robertson, Jr. (class of 1977), Judge, Supreme Court of Missouri (1985–98) (Chief Justice, 1991–93) * Ortrie D. Smith (class of 1971), Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri (1995–present) *

Melissa Taylor Standridge Melissa Taylor Standridge (born July 12, 1962) is an associate justice of the Kansas Supreme Court. She is a former Judge of the Kansas Court of Appeals. Education Standridge earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Kansas in bus ...

(class of 1993), Justice,

Kansas Supreme Court The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Marla Luckert, the court supervises the legal profession, administers the judicial branch, and serves as the st ...

(2020–present) * Arthur Jehu Stanley, Jr. (class of 1928), Judge, United States District Court for the District of Kansas (1958–71) * Dean Whipple (class of 1965), Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri (1987–2007) * Ronnie L. White (class of 1983), Judge, Supreme Court of Missouri (1995–2007) (Chief Justice, 2003–05) *

(class of 1924), Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court (1957–62)

Business and practice

Lyda Conley Eliza Burton "Lyda" Conley ( – 1946) was a Wyandot-American lawyer of Native American and European descent, the first woman admitted to the Kansas Bar Association. She was notable for her campaign to prevent the sale and development of the ...

(class of 1902), first woman admitted to the Kansas Bar and first Native American woman to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court; championed Native American causes * Jay B. Dillingham (class of 1935), president of the

Kansas City Stockyards The Kansas City Stockyards in the West Bottoms west of downtown Kansas City, Missouri flourished from 1871 until closing in 1991. Jay B. Dillingham was the President of the stockyards from 1948 to its closing in 1991. History The stockyards ...

and president of the Chambers of Commerce for both Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas. *

Donald Fehr Donald Martin Fehr (born July 18, 1948) is the fifth executive director of the NHL Players Association, since 2010. He became nationally prominent while serving as the executive director of the MLB Players Association from 1983 to 2009. Life an ...

(class of 1973), Executive Director,

Major League Baseball Players Association The Major League Baseball Players Association (or MLBPA) is the union representing all current Major League Baseball players. All players, managers, coaches, and athletic trainers who hold or have held a signed contract with a Major League club ...

(1986–2009) and

National Hockey League Players Association NHLPA (french: AJLNH) is the labour union for the group of professional hockey players who are under Standard Player Contracts to the 32 member clubs in the National Hockey League (NHL) located in the United States and Canada. The association r ...

(2010–) * Thomas Calloway Lea, Jr. (class of 1898), noted Texas criminal lawyer * Bob Stein (class of 1973),

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player; youngest person ever to play in a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

Sports

* Mike Racy (J.D. class of 1992) – former

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

vice president (1993–2013); 5th commissioner for the

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level, headquartered ...

* Bob Stein (born 1948), American football linebacker, College Football Hall of Fame, Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Super Bowl champion, played for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

, and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

graduated in the top 10% of the UMKC Law School.

Notable faculty and former faculty

* William K. Black * William Patterson Borland *

Pasco Bowman II Pasco Middleton Bowman II (born December 20, 1933) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Early life and education Bowman was born in Har ...

* Robert Klonoff * Kris Kobach * Henry L. Jost * Steve Leben * Albert L. Reeves *

Kevin Warren Kevin Fulbright Warren (born November 17, 1963) is an American attorney and sports executive. He is the Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference. The first Commissioner who is African-American, he is also the first in any of the major American stu ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Missouri-Kansas City, University of, Law Educational institutions established in 1895 Universities and colleges in Kansas City, Missouri Law schools in Missouri

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

1895 establishments in Missouri