Spurgeon Smithson Award

The Spurgeon Smithson Awards were established in 1976 by bequest of the late Smithson, an outstanding Kansas City lawyer.  The Missouri Bar Foundation makes the awards annually to Missouri judges, teachers of law and/or lawyers deemed to have rendered outstanding service toward the increase and diffusion of justice. 

Nominations are solicited from the Board of Trustees of The Missouri Bar Foundation, with the final selections being made at the Foundation Trustees meeting in June.  The awards are then presented at the Annual Meeting of The Missouri Bar. The award includes a $2,000 stipend. 

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

Nomination Requirements/Form

Award Winners

Learn about the 2023 recipients – Hon. Patricia Breckenridge, Hon. George W. Draper III, and Paul N. Venker

Past Award Winners

2022
Hon. Fernando J. Gaitan, Kansas City
Prof. Chuck Henson, Columbia
Alan D. Pratzel, Jefferson City

2021
Hon. Laura Denvir Stith, Jefferson City
S. David Mitchell, Columbia
Richard Steele, Cape Girardeau  

2020
Hon. Robert Dowd Jr., St. Louis
Mira Mdivani, Overland Park, Kansas
Hon. Patrick Robb, St. Joseph

2019
J.R. Hobbs, Kansas City
Hon. Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr., Cape Girardeau
Suzanne Bradley, St. Joseph

2018
Hon. Cynthia Martin, Kansas City
W. Dudley McCarter, St. Louis
Hon. Barry S. Schermer, St. Louis 

2017
William R. Bay, St. Louis
Hon. Karl DeMarce, Memphis
Hon. Robert Larsen, Kansas City

2016
Lajuana M. Counts, Kansas City
Michael P. Gunn, St. Louis
Prof. Sean D. O'Brien, Kansas City

2015
Hon. John C. Holstein, Springfield
Sylvester "Sly" James Jr., Kansas City
Charles A. Weiss, St. Louis

2014
Nancy R. Mogab, St. Louis
Hon. Jon R. Gray, Kansas City
Dale C. Doerhoff, Jefferson City

2013
Dean Michael A. Wolff, St. Louis
Rep. Ike N. Skelton, Kansas City
Hon. Robert G. Russell, Sedalia

2012
Professor R. Lawrence Dessem, Columbia
Hon. Wm. Ray Price, Jefferson City
Arthur H. Stoup, Kansas City

2011
John W. Kurtz, Kansas City
Professor Roger L. Goldman, St. Louis
Hon. Edward D. Robertson Jr., Jefferson City

2010
Hon. Jimmie M. Edwards, St. Louis
James R. Layton, Jefferson City
Sandra L. Schermerhorn, Kansas City

2009
Professor David J. Achtenberg, Kansas City
C. Patrick McLarney, Kansas City
Hon. Richard B. Teitelman, St. Louis

2008
Hon. Gene Hamilton Jr., Columbia
Doreen D. Dodson, St. Louis
Professor James R. Devine, Columbia

2007
Melody Richardson Daily, Columbia
Hon. J. Miles Sweeney, Springfield
Marvin E. “Bunky” Wright, Columbia

2006
James E. Baldwin, Lebanon
Dean Ellen Y. Suni, Kansas City
Hon. Stephen N. Limbaugh, St. Louis

2005
Ron Mitchell, Joplin
Dean Jeffrey Berman, Kansas City
Hon. Ortrie D. Smith

2004
Dean Joel Seligman, St. Louis
Hon. E. Richard Webber, St. Louis
David P. Macoubrie, Chillicothe

2003
Professor Peter Salsich, St. Louis
Hon. Paul J. Simon, St. Louis
Jennifer Gille Bacon, Kansas City

2002
Hon. Frank D. Connett Jr., St. Joseph
Prof. William H. Henning, Columbia
Thomas A. Vetter, Jefferson City

2001
Hon. Charles Blackmar, Jefferson City
Prof. Leonard Riskin, Columbia
F. Wm. McCalpin, St. Louis

2000
Prof. Douglas E. Abrams, Columbia
Hon. Stanley Grimm, Cape Girardeau
Robert C. Welch, Kansas City

1999
Michael E. Middleton, Columbia
Keith A. Birkes, Jefferson City
Hon. Frank Conley, Columbia

1998
Dean Robert G. Bailey, Columbia
Hon. William F. Mauer, Kansas City
Bill L. Thompson, Jefferson City