The Joint Commission on Women in the Profession was formed July 9, 2013, by order of the Supreme Court of Missouri and in conjunction with The Missouri Bar. The Commission is charged with assessing the status of women in the profession, identifying barriers to their advancement, combating bias in the justice system and in the legal profession, and with securing full and equal participation of women in the legal profession. The Commission is co-chaired by Amy Bender-Levy and Stephanie L. Wan, and is comprised of members selected by the Court and the bar.
At its September 2022 meeting, the Board of Governors passed a resolution creating a new Standing Committee on Well-being in the Profession to build upon efforts to increase awareness, improve education and policies, and reduce stigma related to lawyer substance use and mental health. The standing committee supports projects toward these goals, including:
- Well-being awareness initiatives (such as Well-being Week In Law and Suicide Prevention Awareness Month)
- Law student well-being outreach
- Well-being Toolkit for law firm and legal employers
- Behavioral First-Aid Training (including QPR)
- Conducting a statewide well-being survey of the legal profession
- Creating a Well-being Speakers’ Bureau
Local Bar Associations
The BAMSL LGBTQ+ Committee seeks to create networking and educational opportunities for the St. Louis metropolitan area's LGBTQIA+ legal community and allies. The Committee also assists with name and gender marker change legal clinics.
LGBTQ Bar Association of Greater Kansas City is committed to:
- Promoting equality and inclusiveness in the legislature and judiciary;
- Creating opportunities for members of the LGBTQ professional and legal community to meet in a supportive and empowering atmosphere;
- Supporting the next generation of LGBTQ legal professionals through scholarship opportunities and personal engagement; and
- Providing resources supportive of justice and equality to those in and around the Kansas City community.
The WLA was formed in 1976 by a passionate group of women who were determined to form an organization that would support and promote women lawyers in all of their endeavors. Forty-six (46) years later, the WLA continues its mission to advance women in the legal profession, promote diversity, equality and justice within the legal system, and improve the status of women in the community.
The Jackson County Bar Association (JCBA) is a voluntary bar association comprised primarily of African-American attorneys from the Kansas City metropolitan area. JCBA was established at a time when African-American lawyers were not allowed to join the American Bar Association (ABA) or the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association (KCMBA). The purpose of the JCBA, then and now, is to be a resource for its members; to work to ensure justice and equal opportunity for the African-American community; improve the administration of justice; preserve the independence of the judiciary; improve the economic conditions of all citizens of Missouri; uphold the honor of the legal profession; and protect the civil and political rights of the citizens and residents of the State of Missouri.
AABAKC was created as a nonprofit corporation in March 2005. Its members are attorneys, judges, law students, and civic leaders in the greater Kansas City area. AABAKC is the local affiliate for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), a group that represents approximately 60,000 attorneys.
AABAKC’s mission is to promote justice, equality, and opportunity for Asian Americans and to foster professional development, legal scholarship, advocacy, and community involvement in the metropolitan Kansas City area.
AWL was formed in 1976 to advance the role of women in the legal profession. Over the past four decades, our membership has grown to over 600 lawyers and judges throughout the Kansas City area. We are committed to helping women thrive in the practice of law, and we fulfill our mission by providing education, networking, philanthropy and camaraderie opportunities.
The Hispanic Bar Association of Greater Kansas City (HBAGKC) was founded in 1992 by area Hispanic attorneys and is one of the oldest diverse bar associations in Kansas City. In 2017, HBAGKC celebrated its 25th anniversary. HBAGKC serves to preserve the recruitment and retention of Hispanics in law schools and provide them with financial assistance; to provide continuing legal education for attorneys and foster the exchange of ideas and information among it’s members; to serve as the voice for the concerns and opinions of Hispanics in the legal community; to provide testimony before Missouri and Kansas state legislatures on issues of concern to Hispanics; and to work with other bar associations, government agencies, and community groups to achieve greater involvement in and understanding of the American legal system.
Founded in March of 2012, HBAstl is a not-for-profit organization of St. Louis-based attorneys and non-attorneys. Our members are dedicated to serving St. Louis’ Hispanic community by promoting involvement in the legal profession, addressing issues in the legal and non-legal community, and advancing equal protection before the law.
Mission:
- To represent and advocate on a state level the interests of Asian-American attorneys and communities
- To foster the exchange of ideas and information among and between its members and other members of the legal profession, the judiciary and the legal community
- To encourage and promote the professional growth of its members
- To coordinate legal services to our Asian-American communities on a local and national level
- To serve as a statewide network of communication among the Asian-American legal community
- To provide an opportunity for fellowship among its members
- To facilitate client referrals and to increase opportunities for Asian-American law students, lawyers and judges
- To present programs of an educational nature aimed at the needs of Asian-American attorneys
- To encourage cooperation with other organizations of minority attorneys
- To provide a vehicle and forum for the unified expression of opinions and positions by members upon current social, political, economic, legal or other matters or events of concern to the membership
The South Asian Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis ("SABA-StL") is a non-profit organization dedicated to the needs, concerns and interests of the South Asian American legal community in the Saint Louis Metropolitan area. We support the professional development and advancement of our members through networking, educational events, mentoring and advocacy.
The association of the Southern Missouri Women Lawyers (SMWL) was organized in Springfield, Missouri in 2015 with the first officers and directors: Patty Shilling, President; Deanna Scott, Vice President; Lara Fors, Secretary/Treasurer; and Directors Honorable Nancy Rahmeyer, Honorable Carol Aiken, Deborah Dodge, and Andrea Long. SMWL was organized for the purpose of providing an opportunity for the professional advancement of women in the practice of law. The association meets after work bimonthly for networking and one hour of continuing legal education (CLE) in varied topics of the law. Additional CLEs are offered in SMWL’s lunchtime CLE series.