Kellie Early

Kellie Early is a Lecturer and Director of Academic and Bar Support Services at the University of Missouri School of Law, where she leads the development of the Law School’s comprehensive bar support program and teaches Lawyering and Legal Analysis and Bar Skills. With over two decades of experience in bar admissions and professional regulation at state and national levels, she previously served as Chief Strategy Officer at the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) and Executive Director of the Missouri Board of Law Examiners.

Educational Background:

• BA from the University of Missouri
• JD from the University of Missouri

Her expertise focuses on assessment for licensure and certification, bar admissions, and professional regulation. At NCBE, she directed a major research initiative to redesign the bar examination, authored reports on its evolution, and spearheaded the strategic planning for the NextGen bar exam (scheduled for 2026). Her work bridges academic instruction with policy development in legal education.

As an instructor, Kellie has also contributed to legal education as an Adjunct Professor teaching Legal Research & Writing at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Missouri and California, drawing on her earlier career in private practice at Thompson Mitchell (now Thompson Coburn) in St. Louis.