2023 UMKC Alumni Awards
Two of the five 2023 UMKC campus-wide alumni awards were presented to accomplished alumni from the UMKC School of Law.
Alumnus of the Year
Professor Sean O'Brien (’80)
UMKC Law Professor Sean O’Brien has represented people in need accused of crime since he graduated from UMKC School of Law in 1980, first as an assistant public defender, and from 1985-89 as the appointed public defender for Kansas City. He became the founding executive director of the Missouri Capital Punishment Resource Center in 1989, and since then has represented indigent people across the United States in trial, appeal and habeas corpus cases challenging death sentences and wrongful convictions. In 2005, Professor O’Brien joined the faculty of UMKC School of Law, where he teaches courses in criminal law and procedure, fundamentals of investigation, mental health, and he continues his defense of the indigent through his death penalty representation clinic and master class in advocacy that assists with the exoneration of innocent prisoners. His primary passion and success has been fighting to free the innocent and prevent the execution of prisoners with serious mental illness or intellectual disability.
Professor O'Brien's work has freed dozens of innocent people from prison or death row across the United States, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Wyoming. His Supreme Court cases include Schlup v. Delo, which set the “actual innocence” standard for federal habeas corpus cases, and Stewart v. Martinez-Villareal, which empowers habeas courts to prevent the execution of insane prisoners. In 1993, his client, Bobby Lewis Shaw, was the first death row prisoner to receive clemency from a Missouri governor since 1947.
As a legal scholar, Professor O'Brien publishes and lectures nationally on the death penalty, the defense of the indigent and performance standards for attorneys and legal professionals. He has served as chair of the MoBar Criminal Law Committee, and he is a past president of the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Legacy Award
The Accurso Family
The Accurso Family's legacy at UMKC dates back generations. Joseph C. Accurso attended what was then Kansas City University and laid the path for many generations that followed to become Roos.
Family members include Joseph’s nephew, Louis Accurso, who earned his B.A. from UMKC in 1978 and his J.D. in 1981. Just seven years later, he founded one of Kansas City's most well-recognized law firms: the Accurso Law Firm. His sons, Christopher (B.A. ’11, J.D. ’14), Anthony (B.L.A. ’12, M.D. ’12), and Patrick Accurso (J.D. ’18) went on to continue the legacy.
Many other family members have also attended including Michael C. Accurso (B.B.A. ’82), Melissa Accurso (B.A. ’88), Joseph M. Accurso (B.A. ’96), Tammy Dickinson (J.D. ’98), Terri Accurso (B.A. '06, M.A. ’12), Danielle Roy (M.S. ’09) and Nicholas Accurso (B.B.A. ’20).
Members of the family have graduated from nearly every program on campus, including the College of Arts and Sciences, Henry W. Bloch School of Management, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, School of Education, School of Law and School of Medicine.
Law School Alumni Achievement Award
Scott Bethune (J.D. ’88)
Scott S. Bethune graduated from the UMKC School of Law in 1988 and is a founding member of Davis, Bethune & Jones, LLC. Scott concentrates his trial practice in the areas of complex litigation, personal injury/wrongful death litigation, product liability and mass tort litigation.
He is listed in The Best Lawyers of America® and was named Lawyer of the Year for Mass Torts Litigation in Kansas City for 2017 and 2021, Lawyer of the Year for Personal Injury for 2018, Lawyer of the Year for Product Liability Litigation for 2020 and 2023 and Lawyer of the Year for Medical Negligence for 2022. Missouri Lawyers Weekly lists Scott as one of the POWER 30 lawyers for Personal Injury Law in Missouri.
Scott is also a Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America and member of the Trial Law and Diversity Law Institutes. He currently serves on The Missouri Bar Board of Governors, is on the Board of Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Foundation and is the immediate past president of the Board of Trustees for the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Foundation.