Educational background

I was admitted to the Missouri Bar in 1981. My undergraduate degree, in German and Sociology, is from Pitzer College, Claremont, California. I have two law degrees, the first from the University of LaVerne College of Law, LaVerne, California, (affiliated with the Brethren Church). My second law degree is from Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University, New York City.  Yeshiva University is a group of colleges with special emphases, affiliated with the Jewish community.  Many Cardozo Law School graduates practice Constitutional and International law, and either already have an interest in the Mideast, or develop that interest because of the unique courses offered at that law school. I also completed 25 units of classes at the Law School at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, which were applied to my Cardozo Law School degree.

My practice in a Nutshell

My "general" law practice includes civil and criminal litigation (trials), small matters that can be resolved by writing a letter or making a phone call, and major litigation that may be within the legal system for many years. Clients are large and small businesses, men and women in domestic, probate, civil and criminal cases, and come from all over the world.

I prefer to address the total problems of my clients, and feel that the variety in my practice helps me deal with the variety of legal matters in most people's lives.

How I Choose to Work

There are limits to the number of different legal problems a single lawyer can adequately address. Generally, if I have already provided legal services to a client, I would be willing to consider helping that client with most other legal matters that might develop, and would certainly help a former client find another attorney, if appropriate.

If the legal problem of a longtime client became very specialized, or would require me to spend more time than I want to spend developing the legal issues involved, I would consult other attorneys who have a limited practice in that area of law or refer the client to the other lawyer.

Some Personal Information

People in Southwest Missouri know me because I have answered legal questions on Wayne Glenn's KTXR (101.3 FM) Saturday morning radio program since 1983. I also ran for Circuit Judge in 1988 (as a democrat, in a Circuit with eight Republican Judges). Our family publishing business, Thoth Publishing Company, published two children's books: My Mom is Pregnant, (distributed through many hospital prenatal programs) and Only Soldiers Go to War, (dealing with parents going to war) published during Operation Desert Storm and used in schools as a social studies book for children in the early grades.

I have also lived in Japan, Germany, and Egypt, traveled in Greece, Turkey, and Israel, studied the languages of those countries, and worked on archeological projects in Egypt.  

In 1998 I was chosen to be one of the "polling supervisors" for the national elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina.   The next year I served as a polling supervisor for the Assembly elections in Kosovo, and in November 2001, I returned, again, to Bosnia.

The really Important part of my life!

December 2005 our children surprised us with a with a wonderful party in our Sunday School department, to celebrate our 50th anniversary.  To see our family and friends, and how they did it go to our 50th anniversary web site, which was created by our middle child, Lucinda (Hedrick) Kennaley.  You will be able to tell, from the creative and professional nature of this site, that she is building a successful business writing and creating web sites!!  Check out her web site  at http://wordsbycindi.com -- and you might even ask her to show you what she can do for your site !