Fill out this form if you want a CUPCAKE (it is the same form for volunteering). Big thank you to Laura Bannish in the Career Center for setting up this event and connecting with the panelists.
Panelists:
Honorable Virginia Lay | Virginia W. Lay was appointed Circuit Judge on November 8, 2021 and Associate Circuit Judge on April 1, 2019 by Governor Michael L. Parson. Virginia W. Lay received her B.A., with honors in American Studies from Columbia University in 1990 and her law degree from Washington University School of Law in 1993. From 1993-1997, Judge Lay served as an Assistant Circuit Attorney in St. Louis. She was an Assistant Prosecutor for Jackson County, Missouri in Kansas City for 1998-1999, after which she handled civil and criminal cases on behalf of the Attorney General for the State of Missouri. Judge Lay was in private practice from 2002-2017, handling a diverse civil defense caseload, including employment and municipal matters. She has served as an Adjunct Professor at Washington University School of Law, teaching Civil Pretrial through Settlement. From 2012-2019, Judge Lay served as a Special Assistant Circuit Attorney, handling white collar cases for the Missouri Division of Employment Security. Judge Lay has served in Civil Associate and Family Court and currently handles state paternity and probation revocation dockets. She previously served on a judicial monitoring docket for Orders of Protection. She is also currently mentoring the judiciary of Delaware as they set up judicial monitoring dockets.
Judge Thomas Frawley | Thomas Frawley is a senior judge who has served as presiding judge in Missouri’s 45th Judicial Circuit, where he handled civil, criminal, and family law proceedings. He also served as a circuit judge in the 22nd Judicial Circuit, where he was assigned to family court and the juvenile division. In that division, Judge Frawley was responsible for all juvenile court proceedings (i.e., care and protection, delinquency, termination of parental rights, and adoption). He implemented the Juvenile Court Improvement Project, designed to decrease the amount of time children spend in foster care and improve outcomes for children and youth. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Hamilton College and a law degree from the University of Missouri Law School (Columbia).
Michelle J. Spirn | Michelle J. Spirn Michelle graduated from Washington University School of Law in 1996 and George Washington University in 1992.She has over twenty years of experience in all facets of family law litigation. She is proud to be a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a national organization whose members are committed to practicing family law at the highest levels of skill, honesty, integrity, and professionalism. She has been recognized by Best Lawyers In America since 2019 and was named Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” for Family Law in 2021.
Sarah S. Pleban |Sarah Shelledy Pleban graduated from Quincy University and St. Louis University School of Law. She has been a sole practitioner in St. Louis County since 1989. Sarah’s first job as a lawyer was at the St. Louis County Public Defender’s Office where she eventually was the Chief Trial Attorney. Since entering into private practice she has concentrated in the family law arena, primarily as a guardian ad litem. Since 2017, Sarah has spent many hours volunteering for St. Francis Community Services, The Migrant & Immigrant Community Action Project (The M.I.C.A. Project) and the Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America in their Power of Attorney Workshops, Pro-Se Asylum Workshops and Legal Clinic nights. She has also volunteered her services for Catholic Legal Assistance Ministry and the M.I.C.A. Project both as Guardian Ad Litem and attorney for parents seeking paternity judgments in cases involving immigrants. She is a member of The Shrewsbury Anti-Racism Collective.