Up & Coming attorneys for 2012 named

Every year Missouri Lawyers Weekly hands out dozens of Up & Coming awards. And every year the selection committee finds that they could have given out many more.

So it was again this year as the committee sifted through a record 180 nominations from across the state.

The candidates, all under 40 or in the first 10 years of their legal careers, were judged on academic and career accomplishment; community involvement; contributions to initiatives likely to make a difference to the profession, the legal system or the greater community; and intangibles like overcoming obstacles.

This year’s judges are: Judge Randall Head, of the 42nd Circuit in Salem; Lauren Tucker McCubbin, a 2011 winner and attorney at Polsinelli Shughart in Kansas City; Christopher W. Goddard, a 2010 winner and associate general counsel at Washington University in St. Louis; and Richard Jackoway, editor of Missouri Lawyers Weekly.

Here is the Up & Coming Class of 2012:

Christina Abate, The Bar Plan Foundation

Brook Bailey, Polsinelli Shughart

Ashley Baird, Dollar, Burns & Becker

Kaitlin Bridges, Gray, Ritter & Graham

Darryl Chatman, Armstrong Teasdale

Misty Cooper Watt, Stinson Morrison Hecker

Justin Davids, U.S. Attorney’s Office

Danette Davis, SNR Denton

Ryan Davis, Bryan Cave

Athena Dickson, Siro Smith Dickson

Rachael Dockery, CoxHealth

Anjali Dooley, Law Office of Anjali B. Dooley

Thomas Dowling, Stinson Morrison Hecker

Arimeta DuPree, Missouri State Public Defender’s Office

Susan Easton, Bryan Cave

Kimberly Eilerts, Thompson Coburn

Jeffrey Ernst, Circuit Attorney’s Office, St. Louis

Nick Garzia, Armstrong Teasdale

Peter Goss, Wendt Goss

Stephanie Grise, Armstrong Teasdale

John Gunn, The Gunn Law Firm

Matthew Hans, Polsinelli Shughart

Robert Ryan Harding, Husch Blackwell

Jay Heidrick, Polsinelli Shughart

Sarah Holdener, Sauerwein Simon

Kendra Howard, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Sarah Hugg, Lashly & Baer

Matthew Jacober, Lathrop & Gage

Chis Javillonar, Bryan Cave

Keith Kehrer, Bryan Cave

Robert Kenney, Missouri Public Service Commission

David Lloyd, Finch & Campbell

Jessica Merrigan, Lathrop & Gage

Adam Miller, U.S. Department of Justice

Kelly Murrie, Dowd Bennett

Todd Nissenholtz, Armstrong Teasdale

Phyllis Norman, Langdon & Emison

Constantino Ochoa Jr., Bryan Cave

Bhavik Patel, Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard

Michael Payne, Frankel, Rubin, Bond, Dubin, Siegel & Klein

Lauren Perkins Allen, Foland, Wickens, Eisfelder, Roper & Hofer

Megan Pfannenstiel, City of Kansas City

Christopher Pieper, Missouri Department of Economic Development

Jennifer Raymond, The Stolar Partnership

Tim Reichardt, Behr, McCarter & Potter

Gillian Ruddy, Legal Aid of Western Missouri

Jeff Schultz, Armstrong Teasdale

Rachel Smith, Smith Coonrod Mohlman

Adam Suroff, Polsinelli  Shughart

Edward Wilson, Husch Blackwell

The winners will be honored at an awards ceremony Sept. 13 in Kansas City at the Little Theatre. For tickets call (314)  558-3260 or REGISTER ONLINE!.

See a list of last year’s recipients