Gov. Laura Kelly today appointed Melissa Taylor Standridge to the Kansas Supreme Court.
Standridge, Leawood, has served on the Kansas Court of Appeals since 2008. Before serving as a judge, she was an associate attorney with Shook, Hardy and Bacon in the Kansas City area and a chambers counsel in the U.S. District Court.
She fills the position that became open with the recent retirement of Justice Carol Beier, a Kansas City, Kansas, native who graduated from Bishop Ward High School in 1976.
Standridge received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Kansas in 1984, going on to pursue her law degree at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. During her tenure at UMKC, she served as the editor-in-chief of the Law Review and the student leader of the Moot Court program, graduating in 1993.
When she was at Shook, Hardy and Bacon she was a founding member of the firm’s award-winning diversity and inclusion initiative.
A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Standridge from 1999 to 2008 served as chambers counsel to U.S. District Magistrate Judge David Waxse in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas.
“As governor, the process of appointing justices to the Kansas Supreme Court is one I take very seriously,” Gov. Kelly said in a news release. “Not only must justices have knowledge of the law, but also a complex and nuanced understanding of the world and the people the law is intended to govern.”
“There’s no question that Melissa has gathered a wealth of legal expertise that makes her more than prepared to join the Supreme Court. But there’s more to her unique career trajectory and life experience that makes her a perfect fit for our state’s highest court.
“As a foster and adoptive parent, she has firsthand experience navigating the system both as a judge, and as a foster parent to numerous youngsters, doing her best to provide security, stability and love to kids who sorely needed it.
“The totality of her life and career experience makes her preeminently qualified to sit on the Kansas Supreme Court.”
Judge Standridge is married to Judge Richard Standridge, and they have six children.
The two other candidates for the Kansas Supreme Court were Judge Kim Cudney, Greenleaf, Kansas, and Kristen Wheeler, Wichita.
Standridge has received numerous awards for her performance, including the Outstanding Service Award from the Kansas Bar Association, the Sandra Day O’Connor Award for Professional Service from the American Inns of Court, and in 2006 she was selected as Kansas City Leader of the Year by “The Daily Record.”
Additionally, in 2007, her work enriching the lives of children earned her the Angel in Adoption award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.
“To serve on our state’s highest court is the honor of a lifetime – but I don’t view joining the Supreme Court as just a capstone to my career,” Standridge said in the news release. “The justices of our Supreme Court have difficult jobs. So I am keenly aware that my appointment is more than just moving my office from the second floor of the judicial center to the third floor.
“But I believe that my years as a judge on the Court of Appeals, my extensive experience working with judges and lawyers from across our state, and my broad life experiences outside the law have prepared me for this challenge.”
Congrats!