New and Retiring Faculty
New Faculty
Professor Brad Desnoyer
Brad Desnoyer joined the faculty in 2024, after teaching for several years at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and the University of Missouri. Professor Desnoyer earned his Bachelor of Journalism, magna cum laude, and his Juris Doctorate, with honors, from the University of Missouri — where he also served as a senior editorial member of the Missouri Law Review. After graduation, Professor Desnoyer clerked for the Supreme Court of Missouri. He then accepted a position as the Supreme Court of Missouri's Deputy Communications Counsel. Professor Desnoyer will teach at UMKC's top 15 in the nation legal writing program and co-direct the academic support program.
Professor Jennifer Dierks
Jennifer Dierks received a B.A. in English and a B.S.J. in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Kansas, both with distinction. After working as a news producer and reporter at WDAF-TV and KMBC-TV in Kansas City, she returned to the University of Kansas for law school, graduating in the top of her class. Professor Dierks was licensed in Missouri in 1996 and Kansas in 1997. She began her legal career at Polsinelli where she was a member of the Public Law Department. She joined the Office of Professional and Career Development at UMKC School of Law in 2017 and took over leading the department in 2021. Under her guidance, the school achieved greater than 96% employment of its graduates. Professor Dierks taught the Learning from Practice Seminar for several semesters before joining the faculty in 2024 as an associate professor and director of Field Placement Programs.
Alexandria Serra
Alexandria Serra, J.D., MBA, received her B.S. and MBA from Kansas State University, both with distinction, and earned her J.D. with honors from Southern Methodist University. A registered patent attorney turned passionate advocate, Serra transitioned from patent law to criminal defense, serving as a public defender in El Paso, Texas, before founding her own successful solo firm. Over a decade, she handled both trial and appellate cases, arguing before some of the highest courts in Texas. In 2018, Serra founded a company dedicated to expanding legal representation through technology, which by 2023, was serving over 500 local clients each month. A serial entrepreneur and dedicated educator, she joined UMKC School of Law in January 2024, where she co-teaches Trial Advocacy, Appellate Advocacy, and the Solo and Small Firm course. She also advises the Advocacy Emphasis Program and coaches the mock trial and moot court teams. Her research focuses on the integration of AI in advocacy, particularly in skills tutoring, to enhance legal education and practice.
Retiring Faculty
Professor Irma Russell
Irma Russell joined the faculty at UMKC in the fall of 2015 as the Edward A. Smith/Missouri Chair in Law, the Constitution, and Society. Prior to coming to UMKC, she served as dean of The University of Montana School of Law from 2009 to 2014 and as the NELPI professor and director of the National Energy-Environment Law & Policy Institute at the University of Tulsa College of Law. Professor Russell is a former chair of the ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, the AALS Section of Natural Resources and Energy Law, and ABA Section of Professional Responsibility. She currently serves as the liaison of the ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources to the Center for Professional Responsibility and the Publications Board of ABA Section on Dispute Resolution. She has served as the chair of the Professionalism Committee of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, and as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism and the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility. She has also served as chair of the AALS Section on Socio-Economics, and as a member of the Publications Board of the Center for Professional Responsibility.
In practice, Professor Russell represented potentially responsible parties, government entities, lenders and others on issues arising under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, wetlands designation, site mitigation and other environmental issues. She was founding chair of the Environmental Law Section of the Memphis Bar Association and as chair of the Tennessee Bar Association Environmental Section. Professor Russell is an elected member of the American Law Institute, the Judicial Conference for the Tenth Judicial Circuit and the American College of Environmental Lawyers.
Professor Russell earned her J.D. from the University of Kansas. She clerked for The Hon. James K. Logan, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and engaged in private practice in Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee.
Professor Barbara E. Wilson
Barbara Wilson joined the University of Missouri-Kansas City legal writing faculty in 1999. She taught both first year and advanced legal writing classes, Remedies, and Equity. During her more than 20 years at UMKC Law, Professor Wilson also assisted the UMKC Bar Prep Program, served on multiple law school and UMKC-wide committees, and presented at regional and national legal writing conferences and to local law firms on legal writing teaching methods. Professor Wilson received the UMKC Association for Women Law Students Outstanding Faculty Award in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
In the Kansas City community, Professor Wilson served on the board of directors for the Heartland Men’s Chorus and was a founding member of the board of directors for KC Legal.
Prior to teaching, Professor Wilson practiced civil litigation with the Kansas City law offices of Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin and then Horn, Aylward & Bandy, specializing in labor and employment and medical malpractice defense. She is licensed in both Missouri and Kansas.
Professor Wilson earned her J.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she served as associate editor-in-chief of the Journal of Dispute Resolution and interned to Missouri Supreme Court judge Elwood L. Thomas. Before pursuing her law degree, Professor Wilson received a M.A. in Interior Design from the University of Nebraska and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.