Lon O. Hocker Award

This award is given to three young lawyer members of The Missouri Bar, who are under the age of 40 on Sept. 30 of the year the award is to be presented, from the three areas of St. Louis, Kansas City, and all other remaining counties. The recipients shall be those lawyers who exemplify the qualities of a trial lawyer, including professionalism and high ethical conduct. The recipients are chosen based on their demonstrated balance between zealousness and honor, strength and courtesy, and confidence and respect. They must possess a quick wit in the courtroom that is supported by meticulous preparation in the pursuit of truth.

The award is named for Lon O. Hocker, who practiced in St. Louis for more than 50 years. Born in November of 1873, he became one of the leading trial lawyers in Missouri. In a letter to the Foundation, his wife Mary wrote that Hocker believed trial lawyers can and should fearlessly uphold justice by searching for truth and fighting for fairness for all. “He left no stone unturned in preparing his cases, and when he stood before the bar he spoke from conviction,” Mary wrote of her husband’s notable work.

The award, established by Mary Hocker in 1954, six years after Lon O. Hocker’s death, is presented at The Missouri Bar’s Annual Meeting with a $750 stipend. Nominations are taken from members of The Missouri Bar starting on Jan. 1, with a deadline of Feb. 15. An application form is mailed to each nominee for completion and return to the Foundation by March 15. Completed applications are then sent to a selection committee of federal and state judges, who make recommendations to the Trustees of the Missouri Bar Foundation for final selection. 

For more information, contact Mischa Buford Epps at The Missouri Bar.

Nomination Form

Award Winners

Learn about the 2023 recipients – Jessica Caldera, Craig Schlapprizzi, and David Wiegert

Past Award Recipients

2022
Christopher L. Accurso, Kansas City
Tim Cronin, St. Louis
Philip M. Fuhrman, Springfield

2021
Jordan Force, Shelbyville
Brian Horneyer, St. Louis
Jeffrey Q. McCarther, Kansas City

2020
Nathan Chapman, Springfield
Audrey McCormick, Kansas City
Erika Wurst, St. Louis

2019
Jennifer Szczucinski, St. Louis
Eric Playter, Lee’s Summit
Stephanie Leilani Wan, Springfield

2018
Katharine Anne Dolin, Jefferson City
Patrick C. Edwards, Kansas City
Nicole Burlison Knepper, St. Louis

2017
Frank E. Miller, Jackson
Terrence J. O’Toole Jr., St. Louis
Thomas J. Porto, Kansas City

2016
Erica L. Mynarich, Springfield
Michael P. Mahon, St. Louis
Kate E. Noland, Liberty

2015
Anne-Marie Brockland, St. Louis
Adam L. Caine, Kansas City
Cara R. Rose, Springfield

2014
Kristen M. Tuohy, Ozark
Daniel M. Nelson, Kansas City
Matthew A. Radefeld, St. Louis

2013
Sarah K. Johnson, St. Louis
Molly M. Hastings, Kansas City
Russell P. Dempsey, Springfield

2012
Carie Marie Allen, Kansas City
Catherine Reade, Springfield
Jamie Lynn Boock, St. Louis

2011
Corey Lee Kraushaar, St. Louis
Emily W. Little, Columbia
Jennifer M. Phillips, Kansas City

2010
Bradley R. Hansmann, St. Louis
Daniel A. Thomas, Independence
John N. Koester, Jr., Jackson

2009
Matthew Robert Waltz, St. Louis
Nikki Cannezzaro, Kansas City
Stuart Paul Huffman, Springfield

2008
Genevieve J. Nichols, St. Louis
Michael C. Rader, Leawood, Kansas
Justin T. Carver, Jefferson City

2007
Amy Collignon Gunn, St. Louis
Burton S. Haigh, Kansas City
Ann R. Littell Mills, Springfield

2006
Wesley Brent Powell, Kansas City
Timothy J. O’Leary, St. Louis

2005
Stephen R. Bough, Kansas City
John M. Hark, Hannibal
Thomas E. Schwartz, St. Louis

2004
David G. Bandre, Jefferson City
Andrea L. Taylor, Kansas City
Christopher J. Lang, St. Louis

2003
Tom Cartmell, Kansas City
Morry S. Cole, St. Louis
Teresa Bright-Pearson, Cape Girardeau

2002
Joseph S. Passanise, Springfield
M. DeAnn Outlaw, St. Louis
R. Denise Henning, Kansas City

2001
Robert W. Russell, Sedalia
Dawn M. Parsons, Kansas City
Andrew O’Brien, St. Louis

2000
J. Michael Ponder, Cape Girardeau
Jarrett Johnson, Kansas City
Michael P. Corrigan, St. Louis

1999
Keith A. Cutler, Kansas City
Stephen M. Strum, St. Louis
David B. Cosgrove, Jefferson City

1998
Wm. Page Bellamy, Lexington
Robert T. Adams, Kansas City
Martin J. Buckley, St. Louis

1997
Thomas Stewart, St. Louis
Cynthia L. Short, Kansas City
David J. Roth, Cape Girardeau

1996
Steven B. Garner, Springfield
Tim E. Dollar, Kansas City
Cheryl A. Callis, St. Louis

1995
James P. Frickleton, Kansas City
Gretchen Myers, St. Louis
Deborah J. Alessi, St. Charles

1994
T. J. Stephens, Grant City
Randa Rawlins, Kansas City
James E. Rhodes, St. Louis

1993
Kirk J. Goza, Kansas City
Jeffrey P. Hine, Cape Girardeau
Matthew J. Padberg, St. Louis

1992
Matt J. Whitworth, Kansas City
Kenney C. Hulshof, Columbia
Joan Tanner, St. Louis

1991
Stephen J. Potter, St. Louis
Daniel E. Scott, Joplin
Kevin E. J. Regan, Kansas City

1990
Louis C. Accurso, Kansas City
James C. McConnell, Shelbina
Anthony R. Behr, St. Louis

1989
James R. Hobbs, Kansas City
Michael L. Taylor, St. Joseph
Donald R. Morin, St. Louis

1988
Dennis P. Wilson, Dexter
Douglas P. Dowd, St. Louis
John H. Norton, Kansas City

1987
Kenneth A. Wagoner, West Plains
Alise C. Camazine, Clayton
J. Michael Shaffer, Kansas City

1986
Bruce E. Hunt, Springfield
Kenneth K. Vuylsteke, St. Louis
John P. O'Connor, Kansas City

1985
G. Stephen Long, Kansas City
Thomas C. DeVoto, St. Louis
John B. Morthland, Hannibal

1984
Paul D. Cowing, Kansas City
Mark T. Kempton, Sedalia
Charles A. Newman, St. Louis

1983
Ray Dickhaner, Hillsboro
Patrick B. Hall, Kansas City
Stephen H. Ringkamp, St. Louis

1982
R. Dan Boulware, St. Joseph
Stefan J. Glynias, St. Louis
John W. Kurtz, Kansas City

1981
Stephen S. Brown, Kansas City
Dale C. Doerhoff, Jefferson City
Paul J. Passante, St. Louis

1980
David A. Giesler, Springfield
John A. Michener, St. Louis
John E. Turner, Kansas City

1979
Joseph Colantuono, Kansas City
Thomas M. Lang, St. Louis
Terry M. Evans, Trenton

1978
G. Spencer Miller, Gladstone
Robert F. Ritter, St. Louis
J. Edward Sweeney, Monett

1977
Denis C. Burns, St. Louis
Gerald M. Handley, Kansas City
Richard G. Steele, Cape Girardeau

1976
George L. Fitzsimmons, St. Louis
Hadley E. Grimm, Macon
G. Michael O'Neal, Kansas City

1975
Spencer Brown, Kansas City
B. Dan Simon, Columbia
Daniel T. Rabbitt, Jr., St. Louis

1974
James Holloran, St. Louis
Devon Sherwood, Springfield
Walter Simpson, Kansas City

1973
Wendell E. Koerner, Jr., St. Joseph
Thomas B. Sullivan, III, Kansas City
Samuel T. Vandover, St. Louis

1972
Max Von Erdmannsdorff, Kansas City
Charles Merz, St. Louis

1971
John Peak, Kansas City
Burton Shostak, St. Louis

1970
Robert Russell, Kansas City
C. Marshall Friedman, St. Louis

1969
David R. Freeman, Kansas City
William F. James, St. Louis

1968
Donald L. Schlapprizzi, St. Louis
Edward D. Hodge, Mexico

1967
R. Lawrence Ward, Kansas City
Henry D. Menghini, St. Louis

1966
Ben Ely, Jr., St. Louis
Louis F. Cottey, Kirksville

1965
Norman O. Sanders, Kansas City
Bernard C. Brinker, Clayton

1964
J. Richard Roberts, Hillsboro
V. James Ruddy, St. Louis

1963
Joseph E. Stevens, Jr., Kansas City
Parks G. Carpenter, St. Louis

1962
James E. Reeves, Caruthersville
Joseph M. Kortenhof, St. Louis

1961
Thomas A. Sweeney, Kansas City
William B. Anderson, Clayton

1960
Harry L. Bell, St. Louis
Donald P. Thomasson, Cape Girardeau

1959
James W. Jeans, St. Louis
Paul E. Vardeman, Kansas City

1958
William Wallace Evans, St. Louis
Eugene E. Andereck, Trenton

1957
John C. Shepherd, St. Louis
William H. Sanders, Kansas City

1956
Rexford H. Caruthers, St. Louis
John David Collins, Macon

1955
Robert C. Ely, St. Louis
Alvin C. Randall, Kansas City