Advance graduate practices law, stays involved in community

Tuesday, March 10, 2015
KRISTIN DEJOURNETT-SIMON photo Former Advance native Ross McFerron sits at his desk at Osburn, Hine, Yates and Murphy Law Office in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

After graduating from Advance High School in 2000, Ross McFerron went on to obtain his Bachelor's degree in Political Science at Southeast Missouri State and his law degree at University of Missouri Columbia. He now practices law at Osburn, Hine, Yates, and Murphy, LLC, in Cape Girardeau.

McFerron explains that taking the bar examination was one of the most stressful parts of his journey to becoming an attorney.

"You spend the entire summer studying. It's important because you've gone to law school for three years and graduated. If you don't pass the bar then everything you've done for three years is basically a waste of time and money," he explains.

The overall passage rate of the Missouri bar exam is around 91 percent.

"It's not particularly difficult; it's just time consuming to study for it. It's a lot of pressure," says McFerron.

He secured his position at Osburn, Hine, Yates, and Murphy during his third year of law school. That was also the year that he married his wife, Alisa.

McFerron has now practiced at Osburn, Hine, Yates, and Murphy for eight years. His practice is focused on civil litigation, business law, agriculture law, and estate planning.

"At the beginning of my career I took more of the 'whatever walks in the door' type of case. Now that I have more experience I can narrow down the type of cases I handle," he says.

During his college years, McFerron was involved in politics, but has now decided that path isn't for him.

"The more I saw of it the more it became clear to me that it was something I wouldn't want to put my family through," he explains. "I want to be a father first, and an attorney second."

McFerron seems content at Osburn, Hine, Yates, and Murphy.

"I'm in a place that I love working with a group of attorneys and staff that I enjoy working with, in a town that I love, so as a result I've stayed here. My goal is to continue to build a practice here in Cape to serve clients in Southeast Missouri because I enjoy helping people through their disputes and challenges," he says.

"I like practicing here in a medium sized town close to where I grew up because this is where I want to raise my family. I like the opportunity to work on interesting complex cases and live in a medium sized town close to home," McFerron says.

He and Alisa now have two children, Wesley, four, and Leah, one. McFerron is also involved with local civic organizations such as Rotary Club and the University Foundation.

"In lieu of trying to work in politics I felt like work with local organizations was the direction in which I could give back to the community," he says.

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