The Eighth Circuit Bar Association has honored Jerry M. Hunter with the Richard S. Arnold Award for Distinguished Service, one of the circuit’s highest professional recognitions. The award was presented during the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference held in Kansas City, Missouri, on August 1, 2025.
Hunter serves as Senior Counsel at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, where he represents management in all aspects of labor and employment law, including labor arbitrations, supervisory training, preventive labor relations, and cases before the NLRB, EEOC, U.S. Department of Labor, and in both state and federal courts.
From 1989 to 1993, Hunter served as General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C., after being nominated by President George H. W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In that capacity, he supervised the Office of General Counsel and its 1,800 employees, oversaw operations across 33 regional, two sub-regional, and 17 resident offices, prosecuted unfair labor practice cases before the five-member Board, and represented the agency before federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Before his federal service, Hunter was appointed Director of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations by Governor John D. Ashcroft, serving from 1986 to 1989. There, he oversaw enforcement of Missouri’s labor and employment laws, chaired the Investment Committee of the Missouri State Employees Retirement System, and served on its Board of Trustees.
Earlier in his career, Hunter worked as labor counsel for the Kellwood Company, a St. Louis-based Fortune 500 firm, and as both a field attorney for the NLRB and senior trial attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), where he litigated cases under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Title VII, and the Equal Pay Act.
A native of Arkansas, Hunter earned his bachelor’s degree in history and government from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and a law degree from Washington University School of Law in 1977. He later completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1987.
The Richard S. Arnold Award for Distinguished Service honors the late Chief Judge Richard S. Arnold, a Yale and Harvard graduate who served on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and was once described as “perhaps the best judge never to serve on the Supreme Court.” The award recognizes integrity, professionalism, and commitment to public service, qualities that have defined Hunter’s career.
Hunter’s selection for the award reflects a lifetime of distinguished service, both in government and private practice, and his enduring contributions to the field of labor and employment law.
Jake Kroesen is a Jackson County native and a graduate of the University of Central Missouri. He holds a B.S. in Political Science.
