FROM THE DEAN

Dear UMKC Law alumni and friends,

Greetings from the UMKC campus. Res Ipsa’s theme this edition is then and now. In these pages, we explore the different experiences of alumni and current students. Even as we dive into these contrasts, you will see a constant across every graduating class: community. The community students build with each other and nurture as alumni; the community shared between students, faculty and staff; and the community shared between current students and our alumni. As I enter my second year as your dean, I am especially grateful you have welcomed me into this community.

This past year has been an energizing and exciting one. To hit just a few items:

• We launched our bar prep for all J.D. graduates in December 2023. Now, every J.D. graduate has a commercial bar prep class, and Professor Temm’s companion course, paid for as part of tuition and fees. The bar pass rate increased by seven points from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024.
• We hosted our grand opening for the Center for Law, Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the spring of 2024. The CLEI is a leader in the intersection of business, law and public policy. Learn more about it at www.lei.center.
• We renovated the top level of the library, creating large study spaces for students filled with natural light. And we updated the student lounge. Come visit and see the new spaces.
• Our competition teams had a banner year. This includes one team national championship and several individual competitor awards.
• We hired wonderful folks into the faculty, including Jennifer Dierks, clinical professor for internships, and Brad Desnoyer, clinical professor for lawyering skills.
• Thanks in large part to your support, we increased student scholarship dollars by more than 10%!
• And, we hit 94.4% employment for the Class of 2023!

I could go on and on.

It’s my high honor to serve as your dean. I look forward to seeing each and every one of you soon. Thank you all, so very much, for all that you do to make UMKC Law the premier best-value urban law school.

Wishing you the very best,

Lou Mulligan Dean and Professor of Law