Mark Emison Joins Firm as Associate - 2011-07-18

After completing his clerkship for Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice William Ray Price this month, Mark Emison today joined the law firm of Langdon & Emison in its Lexington, Mo., office.  Licensed in the states of Illinois and Missouri, Mark joins the firm as an associate attorney.

While earning his J.D. at the University of Chicago Law School, Mark was a member of the Exoneration Project, which represents clients falsely convicted of crimes.  As part of that program, Mark accrued valuable advocacy experience, developing and implementing case strategies, collaborating on a post-conviction petition, and drafting a motion for successive post-conviction petition.  Mark also interviewed witnesses, prepared affidavits, and analyzed prospective cases as part of the Exoneration Project.

As a clerk for Chief Justice Price, Mark discussed all oral arguments with the Chief Justice of the state’s highest court.  He assisted in drafting majority and dissenting opinions, and wrote legal memoranda on applications for transfer, writs of mandamus, writs of prohibition, and writs of habeas corpus. 

Mark also was able to fulfill a summer as Legal Fellow with the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs in 2009.  For that fellowship in Washington, D.C., he researched and interviewed experts for committee hearings, interviewed whistleblowers, and helped investigate wasteful U.S. government contracting practices.  Also in 2009, Mark was a summer associate with the prestigious Chicago law firm of Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon LLP.

A 2007 University of Missouri – Columbia graduate magna cum laude in finance and real estate, Mark was the recipient of Mizzou’s Alumni Association “Excellence Award.”  This distinction is given to the student who best represents one of the university’s core values.  He was a member of the Dean’s List from 2003-2007, and he was a member of the honors fraternity Beta Gamma Sigma.  In Columbia he served one term each as president of Rho Epsilon, the school’s professional real estate organization, and as alumni relations officer of the Kappa Alpha Order.

Mark has also completed internships with the Missouri Court of Appeals – Western District, the Missouri State Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives.  While a Congressional intern for Rep. Ike Skelton, Mark performed research regarding committee hearings on topics including the war in Iraq.

Mark is currently an American LIFE Volunteer, a Columbia-based nonprofit group that teaches foreign University of Missouri Students about American culture.  He has previously volunteered his time as a project coordinator at Caring for Columbia and a student mentor at the Latino Centro Literacy organization in Columbia.