Kansas City (March 12, 2025) — Lathrop GPM LLP is proud to announce that Partners Ruth Brackney and Mara Cohara have been named 2025 Women’s Justice Awards recipients by Missouri Lawyers Media. The annual awards program recognizes women who have made an impact on the Missouri legal community. Brackney and Cohara will be honored during the Women’s Justice Award ceremony on April 10 at the Ameristar Casino & Resort in St. Charles, Missouri.
Brackney was recognized in the Transactional Practitioner category. Her practice focuses on helping high net worth clients shape their legacy through estate planning for beneficiaries with special needs, charitable and philanthropic giving and succession planning.
She has been recognized as a leading practitioner of private wealth law in Chambers High Net Worth, was named to The Independent’s 2022 class of KC Women Trailblazers, and was named a “Rising Star” by the same publication in 2020.
Cohara was recognized in the Litigation Practitioner category. She is practice group leader for the firm’s Tort, Insurance Recovery and Environmental Practice Group and handles cases involving toxic torts, nuisance, product liability, premises liability, contracts, breach of warranty, and consumer protection litigation. Cohara often defends odor nuisance cases arising from auto plants, industrial farms, feed lots, industrial facilities, and mills, and defends claims for some of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors. She also has considerable experience coordinating large-scale, bet-the-company matters, conducting internal investigations, and defending high-profile lawsuits that attract media and community attention.
Cohara has been named to the Missouri Lawyers Media POWER List for Business Defense for four consecutive years. She also is ranked in Chambers USA, has been selected among The Best Lawyers in America®, was named to the 2021 class of WeKC – Women Executives Kansas City by Ingram’s, and was named a 2020 “Women Who Mean Business” by Kansas City Business Journal, among other accolades.
Cohara and Brackney join fellow Partner Emily Cantwell, who was among the 2024 award winners, on this esteemed list of honorees.
The Women’s Justice Awards recognize women across Missouri who have demonstrated leadership, integrity, service, sacrifice, and accomplishment in improving the quality of justice and exemplifying the highest ideals of the legal profession. The awards reach out to women in various segments of the legal community, including the bar, the bench, public office, business, academia, nonprofits, and the state at large.
Click here to see the full list of honorees.