William M. Corrigan, Jr.
Armstrong Teasdale LLP
St. Louis

First, I would like to thank all of the lawyers and judges across Missouri who have written, e-mailed or called me to express almost unanimous support for The Missouri Bar's initiative to increase the number of lawyers in the Missouri General Assembly.

Moreover, I am delighted to report that, thus far, 10 lawyers have contacted me to express varying levels of interest in running for the legislature. Remember, only 26 lawyers currently serve in the legislature. Thus, the bar's initiative is off to a great start.

What steps is The Missouri Bar taking to increase the number of lawyers in the legislature? What can local bar associations do? What can you do?

What Is The Missouri Bar Doing?

There are a number of steps that the state bar is undertaking to increase the number of lawyers in the legislature.

(1) Meeting with Local and Specialty Bars

We are meeting with local and specialty bars throughout Missouri to discuss this important issue. By January 2004, I will have spoken to at least 25 bar associations across Missouri. I have asked those bar associations to join us in this effort to support the existing lawyers in the legislature and to identify, encourage and support lawyers who run for the legislature. I am pleased to report that those bar associations have been enthusiastically receptive and supportive of our initiative.

(2) Meeting with MATA and MODL

I have met with the leadership of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys and am scheduled to meet with the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers and have encouraged their leadership to join us in this effort. While both organizations are particularly interested in supporting lawyers who promote their causes, both also know that legislators face many issues affecting the administration of justice in Missouri.

(3) Meeting with Larger Firms

I invited the managing partners of all of the law firms in St. Louis and Kansas City with 20 or more attorneys to attend a luncheon on December2 in St. Louis and December4 in Kansas City. At that luncheon, there was a discussion of the importance of lawyers serving in the legislature, and the managing partners were asked to identify, encourage and support a lawyer within their respective firms to run for the legislature. Joining me at these luncheons were current lawyer-legislators, other dignitaries and managing partners of larger law firms who already have lawyers serving in the legislature.

Why are we meeting with the larger firms? Because the larger law firms are often better able to financially support a lawyer-legislator and to provide other lawyers within those firms to support and assist the lawyer-legislator's client matters while the legislature is in session. Four of the larger law firms currently have lawyer-legislators who are associated with those firms - Rep.ConnieJohnson(D- St.Louis), ArmstrongTeasdale; Rep. RichardByrd(R-Kirkwood), Suelthaus&Walsh; Rep.BryanPratt (R- KansasCity), ShookHardy&Bacon; and Sen.MattBartle (R-KansasCity), Berkowitz, Stanton, Brandt, Williams& Shaw.

(4) Meeting with Small Firms

In addition to the larger firms, we are also soliciting the support of smaller firms throughout Missouri. As you know, 75% of all lawyers in our state practice in law firms of 10 lawyers or less. Thus, I am scheduled to scheduled to speak to all of the lawyers who attend The Missouri Bar's Solo and Small Firm Conference next June at the Lake of the Ozarks, which now draws more than 700 lawyers from throughout our state.

I have also met with lawyers from a number of small firms. A lawyer does not need to be from a large law firm to successfully balance practicing law, family life and legislative commitments. For example, currently there are a number of successful lawyer-legislators who are either in small firms or are sole practitioners.

It is also important to remember that this initiative is not simply directed to younger or newer lawyers. This initiative is directed to all lawyers, including experienced lawyers who have enjoyed financial success in the practice of law, have raised their families and/or are looking for a change in direction in their careers. Experienced lawyers are often in a better position in terms of financial and family commitments to serve in the legislature. The question becomes identifying, encouraging and supporting those lawyers to serve.

(5) Law School Symposiums

We have invited all four of the law schools in Missouri to host symposiums on the importance of lawyers in the legislature. Last spring, the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law hosted a symposium in which four lawyer legislators - two Democrats and two Republicans - spoke on this subject. Judge Duane Benton from our Supreme Court and I also made remarks. The symposium was well-attended by students and faculty members. We would like to repeat the symposium at all of the law schools. In addition to considering running for the legislature, law students have a unique opportunity to volunteer to work on campaigns. Thus far, symposiums have been scheduled for Washington University and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

(6) Working with the Media

We are working with the broadcast and print media throughout the state to promote this initiative. We believe that most Missourians will be surprised to learn how few lawyers serve in the legislature.

(7) Seminar at 2004 Annual Meeting

We are planning a seminar at The Missouri Bar/Missouri Judicial Conference Annual Meeting in St.Louis in the fall of 2004. This seminar will discuss how to get started to run for the legislature, how to campaign, how to raise funds, how to balance family and the practice of law, etc. Admittedly, this seminar will be too late for the fall 2004 election cycle; however, we are hopeful that it will serve as a springboard for lawyers to run in 2006.

(8) Recognition of Lawyer-Legislators

The Missouri Bar has taken (and will undertake) a number of steps to recognize and honor lawyer-legislators. For example, as stated above, there are a total of 26 lawyer-legislators in the House and Senate. We are featuring one lawyer-legislator every other week in the bar's weekly electronic newsletter, ESQ. Second, the January issue of The Missouri Bar Bulletin will contain a special section focusing on lawyers serving in the legislature. Finally, the bar is planning to list all lawyers who are running for election in 2004 - incumbents and candidates - in an upcoming issue of ESQ.

(9) Law School for Legislators

Because 87% of our legislators are not lawyers, I am pleased to inform you that The Missouri Bar will host a "Law School for Legislators" program in Jefferson City on January27, 2004. The purpose of this program is to provide a service to all legislators and to educate them on substantive areas of the law. It is primarily intended for those legislators who are not lawyers, but all legislators have been invited. We have invited law professors and distinguished bar members to speak on a variety of subjects.

It is our hope that this program will be a helpful resource to the legislators and possibly present the ongoing opportunity to have a dialogue with the law professors about issues that come up during the legislative session. The legislative leadership is enthusiastically supporting and promoting the Law School for Legislators program, and we are confident that it will be a big success. John Ruth (Jefferson City) of the Board of Governors is chairing this program with the assistance of Tom Burke (St.Louis) and Jack Brady (Kansas City).

What Can Local Bars Do? What Can You Do?

First, I would like to respectfully issue a challenge to all local bars, to specialty bars and to all Missouri lawyers. Please join us in this initiative to increase the number of lawyers in the legislature.

All lawyers and local bars can spread the word about how few lawyers serve in the legislature, and how critical it is for our legislative process to have more lawyers. Finally, all lawyers and local bars can identify, encourage and support lawyers who run for the legislature. If I have not yet spoken to your local or specialty bar about this initiative, I would be pleased to do so.

It is important to remember that this initiative is not intended to eliminate a diverse legislature. We have acknowledged and maintained from the outset that a legislature comprised of men and women with diverse backgrounds is important to an effective legislative process. Moreover, we will continue to support a diverse legislature. However, a legislature that consists of only 13% lawyers is not adequate, and thus not in the best interests of the future of Missouri.

All of us know excellent lawyers who currently serve in the legislature or potential candidates who would make great legislators. Many lawyers, when asked to run, will decline. We are going to hear "no" more than "yes." But there are excellent lawyers who will say "yes." Those lawyers need to be encouraged. They also need to be supported, both with our time and our financial support.

Conclusion

If you have any other ideas or suggestions on ways The Missouri Bar can identify, encourage and support lawyers seeking to run for the legislature, please feel free to write or e-mail me at wcorrigan@armstrongteasdale.com.

The August primary is still 10 months away. The deadline to file the necessary paperwork with the Missouri Secretary of State to be listed on the primary ballot for the August election is March 30, 2004. Thus, a lawyer interested in the legislature still has time to file for the House or the Senate. Now is the time for all of us to act. Now is the time for all of us to identify, encourage and support lawyers who run for the legislature.