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2018-19 Missouri Bar officers elected

West Plains lawyer Ray Williams will be sworn in as president Thursday

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Ray Williams, a solo practitioner with law offices in West Plains and Eminence, Wednesday was elected the 2018-19 president of The Missouri Bar. The election took place during the 137th Annual Meeting of The Missouri Bar held Sept. 26-28 at the Hilton Ballpark Hotel in St. Louis. He succeeds St. Louis lawyer Morry Cole as president of the nearly 31,000-member organization.

Williams will be sworn in as president before the more than 600 attendees of the annual meeting at the conference’s opening luncheon at noon, Thursday, Sept. 27, where he will discuss the unified bar’s upcoming 75th anniversary and its role in improving the lives of all Missouri citizens.

“Working together, Missouri lawyers have improved the lives of our fellow Missourians over the past 75 years,” Williams said. “For example, we’ve better protected the people of Missouri by developing a comprehensive Criminal Code – twice. Plus, we’ve kept up with changes in society and technology by spearheading the adoption of a uniform digital assets law this year, so family members now have a way to administer a loved one’s social media and online photos, such as on Facebook, after the loss of that person.”

Williams graduated of the University of Missouri School of Law, where he served as Editor-In-Chief of the Missouri Law Review. He became a member of the Board of Governors in 2008 and has served as chair of several Missouri Bar committees, including those vetting member benefits and strategic planning. He has a general practice representing clients in civil and criminal matters across south central Missouri.

Tom Bender, an attorney with Horn Aylward & Bandy, LLC in Kansas City, will serve as president-elect. He earned his law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law and has served on the Board of Governors since 2011. He is a past president of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Foundation. His practice focuses on civil litigation and alternative dispute resolution.

The new vice president of The Missouri Bar is John Gunn with the Gunn Law Firm, P.C. in St. Louis. He earned his law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law and has served on the Board of Governors since 2012. His practice focuses on estate planning, probate administration and litigation, trust administration and litigation, commercial litigation and real estate.

Newly-elected representatives from the three districts of the Missouri Court of Appeals are: Andrew Lyskowski, Tricia Scaglia and Maria Zschoche. They, along with the officers and the immediate past president, compose The Missouri Bar’s Executive Committee for the coming year.

The Missouri Bar is a statewide organization that is dedicated to improving the legal profession, the law and the administration of justice for all Missourians. Created in 1944 by order of the Supreme Court of Missouri, it serves all 30,000 of Missouri’s practicing lawyers. To achieve its mission, The Missouri Bar provides a wide range of services and resources to its members, as well as the media, educators and the citizens of Missouri. To learn more about The Missouri Bar, visit www.mobar.organd www.MissouriLawyersHelp.org.