Chief Justice W. Brent Powell addresses 2025 joint annual meeting of The Missouri Bar, Judicial Conference of Missouri in Branson

Thank you, President Dickson, for that kind introduction, and good afternoon, everyone! Thank you for having me here today.

I find it very fitting to be introduced here in southwest Missouri by a Kansas City lawyer. It makes me feel close to both my homes. For those who don’t know, I have lived in Kansas City for many years now, but I grew up right here in this area – back when Bass Pro was a little rinky dink operation selling fishing lures out of the back of a liquor store. I spent my weekends at Table Rock Lake and playing football in many of the small towns dotted around these Ozark mountains. But after high school, the lure of good barbecue and the opportunity for this Missouri Tiger to proudly plant a Mizzou flag within steps of the Kansas border eventually led me to Kansas City. 

I owe my love for Mizzou and my legal career to my family. Two of them are sadly no longer with us. But they are here with me in spirit. First is my mother, Dot. She served our state’s legal system for many years as a probation and parole officer. Like all moms, I am sure she would be very proud of me right now ... but I’m certain she would be even more proud to see all these women on our state’s highest court and leading our Missouri Bar! Second is her brother, my uncle, Clyde Allemann. He was a well-respected lawyer in Springfield for more than 30 years and someone I always aspired to be. While my mom and Uncle Clyde cannot be here today, I know I would not be standing in front of all of you but for the strong influence they had over my life.

Now I’d like to recognize some of my family who are with us here today. First there’s my father, Bill Powell. He has achieved both The Missouri Bar status of “senior counselor” by practicing law in Missouri for more than five decades and the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association’s distinguished counselor award. More importantly, he just may be the nicest guy in the whole world. I am so blessed to have him in my life. My father-in-law is also here – Bill Phillips. He too is a senior counselor, having practiced in north Missouri for more than 50 years. And my sister in law Jennifer Phillips is here. She too is a lawyer and a judge in Jackson County. Are you sensing a theme here? 

My stepmother Cathy, my mother-in-law Barb, my aunt Joanne, my sister Kerri and her husband Shawn are also here today. They are not lawyers, but they have surely earned honorary law degrees having sat around the family dinner table where the major legal issues of the day were always – and continue to be – discussed. 

We also have the next generation of lawyers from my family here today, my nieces Sadie and Chloe, and my nephew Noah. Now, you see, Uncle Brent has a very long tradition of embarrassing his nieces and nephew, so Chloe, Sadie, and Noah, it’s time to stand up. Audience, please help me continue this tradition by giving them a big round of applause! 

Last, but definitely not least, is my wonderful wife Beth. She swept me off my feet when we first met in law school. We got married not long after we graduated, and she has been my rock throughout my life and career. I learned early on to trust her wisdom and her judgment. Now, she does not like to toot her own horn – so I will proudly do it for her. She was the very first woman to serve as the United States attorney for the Western District of Missouri, and for those who don’t know, I’m not the first – or the only – “chief” in our household. I am very proud to say Beth has been chief judge of the federal district court in Kansas City for six years and counting! And by the way, she is the very first woman to serve in that role. I am very blessed to have this accomplished lawyer and jurist in my life.

Preserving the rule of law

As you may have gathered from my family introductions, I was raised to care deeply about our legal profession and our courts. You probably know we’ll be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence next summer. And lawyers played a vital role in that monumental event. Of the 56 colonists who literally put their lives on the line by signing the Declaration of Independence, 25 were lawyers. Later, the colonies elected many lawyers to represent them in the Continental Congress, leading to members of our profession drafting our constitution and shaping our nation’s government. And lawyers have continued to lead – on the front lines and behind the scenes – as our nation has evolved ever since. Truly, lawyers have been woven into the fabric of our nation. This is part of what makes me – and, I hope, all of you – very proud to be a lawyer.

I hope you are just as proud of our nation’s strong tradition of embracing the rule of law. While 250 years sounds pretty impressive, it’s not in the context of world history. Ours is still a fairly new nation, and it is necessary – no, I would say it is imperative – that all of us do what we can to speak out and defend our system of justice and the rule of law. Now, that is not to say we must always agree on everything. In fact, those same lawyers who helped shape our nation all those years ago designed our system of justice to be adversarial. Our founders understood presenting competing evidence and ideas, coupled with reasoned advocacy, would guide jurors and judges in their decisions. Of course, that does not mean we have to like or agree with their decisions, but under the rule of law, we as citizens are bound by those decisions. All of us have the inherent right to disagree with the decisions of our courts– but it is essential that we as a people of one nation accept and agree to be bound by this body of law. This is what has made our nation great for the last 250 years and what will make our nation great for centuries to come.

Preserving the Missouri Plan

In Missouri, we have our own unique history – that of the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan. In our own 200-plus years, our state has tried numerous ways of selecting our judges. Early Missourians used an appointment-and-confirmation system and even tried popular elections for all judges. Over time, Missourians became concerned about undue influence of money and politics over their courts – especially in the appellate courts and circuit courts in the major metropolitan areas. 

And so a group of concerned citizens and lawyers looked for a solution. The one they devised – known nationally as the Missouri Plan – called for judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri, the court of appeals, and the circuit courts in Jackson County and the city of St. Louis to be selected using a nonpartisan method – based on merit. The Missouri Plan also gives the state’s other counties a choice – a choice of whether to continue electing their judges or instead use nonpartisan selection. This choice is important. Because in some counties, electing judges makes sense, but in others, it just doesn’t. Since the plan’s inception, four other counties – including my home of Greene County – have opted to select their judges using the nonpartisan method. 

I am thankful we have the Missouri Plan, especially as I get to know other chief justices from around the country and hear some of them talk about having to raise not just millions but tens of millions of dollars to run for their seats. This spring’s race for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court broke national spending records – by topping the $100-million mark. 

As you know, our Missouri Plan provides for a lot of citizen and voter involvement. They play such an important role in the entire process. But lawyers – lawyers too – are vital to this process. 

Lawyers engage with their neighbors and community and explain the role of judges in our judicial system. We as a profession need to be sure we are providing the public with consistent, accurate, meaningful information about how judges decide cases. Missourians must understand that our judges operate under the rule of law and decide cases based on the law and facts – not based on personal opinions, the governor who appointed them, or party labels. 

Unfortunately, Missourians frequently buy into headlines or social media posts proclaiming courts are “picking sides” based on political leanings, without ever even reading the judge’s decision. All of us – lawyers and judges alike – have experienced situations when our cases and decisions have been inaccurately or incompletely reported in the media or a social media post. It is even more frustrating when lawyers – people in our own profession – fall into this same trap.

Every day, the judges on my Court and across this state deliberate and decide cases impacting the lives of Missourians. I can tell you, without hesitation, that my judicial colleagues and I always focus on what we believe the law requires us to do. We then do our very best to explain those reasons in our decisions. Never have our discussions involved the party of the governor who appointed us. Never have they involved “picking sides” based on politics. That is just not how we decide our cases. In fact, at times we don’t even like the outcomes of our own decisions, but we always are confident the law required the result.

This past fall, I agonized for my colleagues up for retention or election – not just on my Court but around the state – smart, hardworking judges who were facing all manner of unfair social media attacks. Now, not all criticism is unfounded, of course, and we know as judges we may face criticism over the work we do. But what I saw alarmed me. The undue influence of money and politics is not good for our courts or the rule of law. This is precisely why Missourians worked so hard more than 85 years ago to enshrine the Missouri Plan into our constitution. But the Plan relies on judges being retained or elected based on their merit – not misinformation or some social media algorithm. I hope all of you – individually and collectively – will work with us in the judiciary to help explain to the public how judges decide cases and diminish the influence of misinformation and misguided social media attacks on our courts and legal system.

Improving access to legal services

Another area in which the Bar and the judiciary can work together is improving access to legal services in this state. Since becoming a judge, I have observed a growing number of litigants coming to our courthouses without lawyers. Even more concerning, there seems to be a growing number of people tackling legal issues without the benefit of legal counsel. This seems especially true in our rural communities. In more than a third of Missouri counties, there are only 10 licensed attorneys or fewer. In some counties, there are not even enough local lawyers to fill the prosecutor and associate circuit judge positions. 

Due to the efforts of lawyers in this very room, I know there is already a lot of work underway to reach more Missourians in need of legal services. For example, my dear friend Shelly Dreyer, your Bar’s immediate past president, has made a career practicing not only in Joplin but also in the rural communities surrounding her home town. I also appreciate efforts by judges and lawyers who have visited rural high schools, encouraging students there to consider pursuing legal careers in their home towns. 

These efforts confirm what we know: There are not enough affordable legal services, easily available, to support the needs of Missourians in our rural communities. What we do not know, however, is the extent of the problem. Ensuring adequate legal services for rural Missourians cannot be left to speculation. We need solid evidence to determine how best to move forward.

And so your Missouri Bar has established a new special committee on rural practice in Missouri. This committee will start by asking important questions necessary to collect the data we need to clarify the issues and guide our work. I applaud The Missouri Bar for all these efforts and encourage all of you to stay tuned to learn how you can participate in this important process. 

But ensuring access to legal services is not limited to rural communities – it must be available for all Missourians. Everyday matters such as dissolutions, child custody agreements, estate plans, and business contracts are far too important to risk not being guided by the helpful hand of a lawyer. Justice cannot be reserved for just the wealthy. Everyone deserves zealous legal advocacy – even those who don’t live in our neighborhoods, don’t look like us, and don’t share our political views. It is up to all of us to make sure “justice for all” is not just an amorphous concept in our constitution. We must strive to make justice a true reality in law offices and courthouses across our great state. 

Expanding civic education

Despite challenges we face, I remain steadfastly confident in our courts and legal profession. But public perception and confidence in these institutions are waning. This lack of confidence erodes the faith our citizens have in our legal system. This erosion undermines the rule of law. People are less likely to follow a court decision if they lack understanding and faith in the process driving the decision. Therefore, as lawyers, we must rise and face this challenge to educate the public to protect the rule of law in our nation. 

Karl DeMarce, my former law school classmate and colleague, provided a roadmap for how our legal profession can address this challenge. For those who do not know or remember Karl, he was a kind and brilliant law student, lawyer, and jurist. And he just may be the smartest guy I have ever known, but he never sought fame or fortune. Rather, he laudably spent nearly his entire legal career as an associate circuit judge in rural northeast Missouri. Before he retired to become a pastor, he approached the law like his pastoral work – as a teacher. As a lawyer and a judge, he took the time and opportunity to explain, and teach people how the law and legal process worked. He recognized fundamentally that lawyers and judges are blessed with a very special knowledge and responsibility – the opportunity to teach others.

How wise. And how very simple. We all, in this room, are teachers. And our subject matter is civic education. We can help the public better understand not only what we do – but why lawyers take the actions we take and why judges make the decisions we make. We can help the public understand that our nation was founded on the rule of law ... that we as lawyers and judges are governed and accountable to the constitution and the written law – not personal or political preferences. We embrace a system of justice in which courts provide a safe forum where all parties can be heard and conflicts are resolved following established procedures, rules, and laws. And everyone – including lawyers, judges, and our leaders and other public officials – must honor and be accountable under that body of law. 

What a perfect opportunity to do so as we prepare for our nation’s 250th anniversary. So, in addition to your pledge of allegiance to this great nation, I implore all of you to take another pledge – a pledge to participate in civic education. Visit The Missouri Bar website and our Discover Missouri Courts website for resources to help you educate your fellow Missourians about the foundations of our legal institutions and profession. Volunteer to speak at your next church function. Reach out to community groups, local civic organizations, or your chamber of commerce. Contact your children’s school. A teacher recently told a member of our Bar that having a judge and lawyer speak to the students was “life changing.” 

This proves you don’t have to imagine the impact we could make – it is a reality that you can create. If you take this pledge and accept this challenge, it can and will make a difference. And this pledge, this pledge will remind all of us – lawyers, judges, and the public alike – about the special role our profession plays in protecting liberty and justice for all, and that our efforts make a difference every single day in communities across this great state of Missouri.

God bless each and every one of you, and thank you again for the opportunity to address all of you today.