Hon. Jon R. Gray

Professional Experience:

Jon Gray served for more than 20 years as a circuit judge in the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit of Missouri, before joining Shook, Hardy & Bacon in 2007. He is licensed to practice before the Missouri Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

In August 2007, Judge Gray became chair of the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association. He is also active in The Missouri Bar, the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and the Jackson County Bar Association. The Missouri Bar Foundation honored Judge Gray with the 2014 Spurgeon Smithson Award recognizing "significant contributions to the administration of justice."

Judge Gray has served as a faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy in regional and national seminars since 1987 in addition to serving as faculty for the Kessler-Edison Program in Trial Techniques at Emory University School of Law and the Missouri Judicial College. His reviews and commentaries have appeared in legal and non-legal publications.

Judge Gray is a life member of the University of Missouri – Kansas City Alumni Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. 

 

Professional Affiliations:

• Jackson County Bar Association
• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
• National Bar Association, Judicial Council, Chair (August 2007)
• The Missouri Bar

Education:

• J.D., University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law, 1976
• B.A., Grinnell College, 1973 (American Studies)

Admissions:

• Missouri
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit

Honors:

• Spurgeon Smithson Award, The Missouri Bar Foundation (2014)

Community Involvement:

• University of Missouri - Kansas City Alumni Association
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
• Friends of the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music, Former Board Affiliation
• Kansas City Neighborhood Alliance, Former Board Affiliation
• Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Executive Committee
• Missouri United Methodist Foundation
• Missouri West Board of Trustees
• National Council of Churches (USA)
• ReStart, Inc., Former Board Affiliation
• Truman Medical Centers, Executive Committee
• United Methodist Church, Ecumenical Affairs
• United Methodist Church, General and Jurisdictional Conference, Delegate (1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
• United Methodist Church, Judicial Council (2004-2012)
• Urban League of Greater Kansas City, Former Board Affiliation

Teaching:

• Emory University School of Law and the Missouri Judicial College, Kessler-Edison Program in Trial Techniques, Faculty Member
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Faculty Member 

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