The winners will be provided with a recognition gift expressing the appreciation of the UMKC Law Foundation and the Law Alumni Association.
Honorees recognizd during The 2020 Big Event:
Lindsay J. Runnels practices at Morgan Pilate LLC. She has spent ten years working in the defense of indigent prisoners seeking to overturn their sentences and death penalty cases. She worked as a full-time clinical professor at UMKC where she directed the Wrongful Convictions Clinic, She taught and supervised students in the investigation and litigation of innocence cases at both UMKC and MU. She has assisted with the cases of wrongfully convicted individuals including Rodney Lincoln, Lamonte McIntyre and Dale Helming. She received the Missouri Bar Association Young Lawyers Section Pro Bono Award in 2014. She is a member of the Board of Directors for The Midwest Innocence Project.
Steve Cosentino is a Partner at the law firm of Stinson LLP. He served as President of the Law Foundation Board of Trustees from 2011 – 2013, and he is a former member of the Law Alumni Association Board of Directors. He is a co-founder and committee chair of the Bob Downs Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament that funds three significant scholarships at the UMKC School of Law. He has been a supporter of the Pat Kelly Scholarship Poker Tournament and speaks often at UMKC CLE sessions. Steve is a great ambassador and advocate for UMKC School of Law devoting efforts to recruiting high caliber law students and increasing the profile of the law school within the community.
Crissy Del Percio is an attorney at Legal Aid of Western Missouri. As a law student, she worked in the Domestic Unit at Legal Aid of Western Missouri where she helped serve victims of domestic violence, and divorce cases. After graduation she was hired full-time as an Order of Protection Attorney at Legal Aid. She has served as the co-chair of Domestic Violence Alliance CLE for several years. As part of her service to the community, she plans and executes an annual session for lawyers and nonlawyers to learn about domestic violence. She is also co-chair of the Juvenile Law Committee. In addition, Crissy was the President of the UMKC Family Law Society from 2011-2013.
Outside of her Legal Aid position, Crissy visits women a local domestic violence shelters to help share information and answer legal questions. She instructs a pro se clinic to help people who can’t afford an attorney, but need assistance with the pro se forms so they can get a divorce. She received the Young Lawyer of the Year Award in 2019 from Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association.
Judge Midkiff serves as a Judge for the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Court. She graduated with honors in 1975 in a class of more than 200 men. Judge Midkiff started her career in law when female lawyers were still few and far between, especially in litigation practice. Following graduation, she owned and operated a private law practice. In her 26 years of private practice, she litigated many different types of cases including employment discrimination, civil rights, sexual harassment and business and commercial torts.
In 2002, Judge Midkiff was appointed Circuit Judge for Division 1 of the 16th Circuit Court of the Jackson County, Missouri. In 2008, she received the Benjamin Cardozo Award for Judicial Courage and Excellence from the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She was a Board Member of Jackson County Law Library for several years and served as the Program Chair. Currently, she is a member of the Missouri Commission on Judicial Retirement & Discipline. She is an original member of the Association for Women Lawyers for Greater Kansas City where she has taken many female attorneys under her wing and provided mentorship.
The Jack and Helyn Miller Foundation has provided a significant scholarship each year for a 1L, 2L and 3L law student. During the past 25 years, the Miller Foundation has funded in excess of $1 million in scholarships at UMKC Law.
The scholarship honors the legacy of Jack Miller who graduated from the Kansas City School of Law in 1932. When Miller graduated, he did not have enough money for travel expenses to take the bar exam. He established the scholarship to help other law students avoid financial difficulties, like those that he encountered, and to help develop future community leaders.
Debbie Brooks, retired Assistant Dean of Admissions for UMKC School of Law. When she attended UMKC Law, Debbie co-founded the Midwest Innocence Project and was awarded the Harry S. Truman Leadership Award. After her retirement, she has continued her long association with volunteerism at UMKC and in the community.
Debbie has established the Alan E. Brooks Endowment Scholarship with the UMKC Law Foundation in the memory of her husband. She is a member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. She volunteers as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Chancellor’s African American Leadership Council, and on UMKC’s Multicultural Affairs Committee. Debbie is the current president of the UMKC Women’s Council, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey and chair of the Kansas City Food Advisory Board. She is a member of the Missouri and Jackson County Bar Associations and Black Female Attorneys. She continues to serves as a guide and mentor for those seeking higher education.
David Stoup is the Chairman of Trilogy Spa Holdings, an exclusive spa management company. The company creates, unique, high performance hospitality spa environments in four-and-five star properties. David is also the Chairman and CEO of Healthy Lifestyle Brands, a licensing company that specializes in the Health & Wellness space. During his thirty-year career, David has founded and reinvented a variety of companies and concentrating on firms with upscale consumer products and services. He is a director for the Amazon Conservation Team, Founder of YPO’s Global Youth Exchange and Board Member of St. Joseph’s Medical Center. He is also an active member of World Presidents Organization (WPO) and Chief Executives Organization (CEO).
During his third year in law school, David was elected by students from all law schools in the country to serve as President of Law Student Division of the American Bar Association. David, along with this his family members, have honored Art Stoup – their father and 1950 alumnus of the law school- by establishing the Arthur H. Stoup Courtroom in the UMKC Law building. The Stoup Courtroom is modeled after a district courtroom and has the most advanced technology systems available for legal teaching and learning.
Fred’s first trial experience was as a criminal defense lawyer, often appointed, with little or no pay. He continued to practice criminal defense until he moved over to plaintiff’s side personal injury, civil rights and discrimination cases. Fred is now a solo practitioner at the Law Office of Fred Slough. He continues to work on litigation and is also a mediator. Fred is a member of the Missouri Bar, the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, the National Employment Lawyers Association – Kansas City, the National Lawyers Guild, the Kansas City Metropolitan BarAssociation and the Missouri Association Against the Death Penalty. In addition to Missouri state courts, Fred is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, 10th and 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, United States. District Court for the Western District of Missouri and the U.S. District Court for theDistrict of Kansas.
The Honorable Lajuana Counts is a magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court for the WesternDistrict of Missouri. She served asAssistant United States Attorney for the Western District for nearly thirty years. Lajuana’s enthusiasm for service seems limitless. She is the immediate past president of the Law Foundation and her continuing service to UMKC earned her the prestigious Bill French Award. She has served on the Jackson County BarAssociation since it was founded and is a past president. Within the KCMBA, she served as co-chair of the diversity initiative and was in line to serve president before her judicial appointment took precedence. The same story of service and leadership can be found through her involvement in the National BarAssociation, the Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City, the UMKC Women’s Council, and the Lawyers Encouraging Academic Performance.
James R. Hobbs is a shareholder at Wyrsch Hobbs & Mirakian, P.C. He has an active practice in the areas of white-collar criminal defense, criminal defense, and commercial litigation. He represents individuals and businesses.J.R. is a past president of the Law Foundation and continues to serve as an adjunct professor at UMKC School of Law. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, Fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, a Fellow in the InternationalSociety of Barristers, and a member of the American Board of TrialAdvocates. He has served on the MissouriAppellate Judicial Commission and is currently a member of the Missouri SupremeCourt Commission on Race and Ethnic Fairness. J.R. Hobbs is a past recipient of the Lon O. Hocker Memorial Trial Lawyer Award bestowed by the Missouri Bar Foundation and recipient of the Dean of the Trial Bar, awarded by the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association.
