Career Development

Dean Lisa Key was a member of the faculty at Mizzou Law from 1993 to 2003.  She returned to the law school as Assistant Dean for Admissions, Career Development and Student Services in 2011.
Dean Key has long been interested in law school admissions, the professional development of law students and legal employment.  While on the faculty, she enjoyed meeting with and counseling law students on an informal basis, and values the relationships she continues to have with a large number of them.  Dean Key is proud to have served as the faculty advisor to the Women’s Law Association for a number of years.  She also actively participated in numerous law school committees directly related to students, including the Admissions Committee, which she also chaired; the Judicial Clerkship Committee; the Standards and Readmissions Committee; the Student Disabilities Committee; and the Curriculum Committee.

In addition to teaching, Dean Key has had a wide range of legal experiences, making her particularly well-suited for counseling students about their careers.  She practiced corporate and transactional law at King & Spalding, and later with a smaller, boutique firm in Atlanta.  In 2003, she opened her own family law firm in Kansas City and turned it into a successful and profitable business.  Dean Key has also been involved with numerous professional and charitable organizations, and has served as an officer and member of the board of directors for several of these.  She credits all of these experiences, and the people she has met along the way, with her personal and professional growth, and success and fulfillment in her career.  Dean Key is passionate about helping students find meaningful employment and develop their own unique path to personal and professional success and fulfillment.

Dean Key graduated with honors with a degree in social work from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned her JD cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law.

Kate Busch joined the Office of Career Development in December 2012. In addition to counseling students, she primarily focuses on broadening the law school's network of small-firm employers. She is also responsible for the Mizzou Law judicial clerkship program.

Kate graduated from Mizzou Law in 2007 and became an assistant prosecuting attorney in Warren County, Mo. She handled all levels of criminal cases, worked on various county government civil issues, and was actively involved in the treatment court programs in Warren County.

Kate received her undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Missouri in 2003. Prior to law school, she spent a legislative session working as the legislative director for the Speaker pro tem of the Missouri House of Representatives.

Erika Simone Fadel became director of diversity initiatives and outreach at the School of Law in the fall of 2011.  Prior to that, she served in the Career Development Office as the director of public service/public interest for the 2010-2011 academic year.

In 1998, she received a JD from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and began her career as a corporate associate for Clark, Thomas & Winters, PC, in Austin, Texas. She also worked in the Dallas offices of Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr PC and K&L Gates, LLP.  Erika holds a master of divinity degree from Boston University School of Theology and is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church.

Jennifer McGarr joined the Office of Career Development in September of 2010, and is currently working to expand our ties to mid-size and large firms in Missouri and outside the state.  A graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, she is a former litigation associate with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in New York City and a former staff attorney with the Louisiana Legislature. She has been an adjunct professor at MU Law since 2008, teaching Legal Research and Writing, Advocacy and Research, and Law Practice Management.

Contact Jennifer if you have any questions related to Mizzou Law’s on campus interview program or the bar application process.

Linda Lorenz joined the Office of Career Development and Student Services as the director of public service/public interest. She comes to the School of Law from Central Methodist University, where she served as the director of career development for 6 years. Previously, Linda was the internship coordinator at Westminster College.

In her new position, Linda expands contacts with federal and state agencies in Missouri and neighboring states, and works with public interest employers to provide more opportunities for Mizzou Law students.

She received her master’s of education degree from the University of Alabama.

Lesley Clark has been with the Office of Career Development & Student Services since 2003.  She joined the Law School in 1995, having been with MU since 1988.  Lesley provides administrative support for the staff in room 103. 

Lesley will be happy to help you request reciprocity with another law school, reserve the media room for Skype or Polycom use, & work with the OSCAR system.