Langdon & Emison Partner Michael W. Manners will receive the Theodore McMillian Judicial Excellence Award in September. This prestigious honor is given annually by the Missouri Bar Association to a judge who has set an example of judicial excellence by leadership in the advancement of justice, has provided outstanding public and community service to the people of Missouri, who are persons of the highest character, integrity, and honor, and who inspire other members of the judiciary to similar noble purpose.
Before joining the firm this month as a partner, Mike served for the previous 13 years as a trial judge in the 16th Judicial Circuit in Jackson County, Missouri. During his tenure on the bench, he oversaw nearly 170 jury trials and served as a special judge for the Missouri Supreme Court on numerous occasions. Mike received the 2012 Joseph E. Stevens, Jr. Aspire to Excellence Award from the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association. In 2008 and 2009, he was selected as thebest trial judge in the state of Missouri by the Missouri Lawyers Weekly.
As a partner at the firm, Mike will actively practice in all of the firm’s practice areas. Manners was an esteemed trial lawyer before ascending to the bench, working as a trial attorney for 24 years prior to his judicial appointment. In his time as a trial lawyer, Manners served as president of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (MATA) and president of the Eastern Jackson County Bar Association.