2017 Trusted Advisers Up-and-Comer: Megan Creson

SBJ photo by WES HAMILTON

Resume Highlights

• Bachelor’s in advertising and public relations and master’s in communications, Drury University; Juris Doctor, University of Missouri-Columbia

• Graduated in the top 20 percent of her law school class.

• Served as associate managing editor for MU’s Journal of Dispute Resolution.

• Member of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association and Southern Missouri Women Lawyers.

Megan Creson’s path to becoming a lawyer hasn’t been a straight line and it definitely didn’t come easily.

Just finishing her first year of practice as an associate attorney, Creson made stops along the way at Ozarks Community Hospital and BKD LLP, among others, before going full time at Lowther Johnson Attorneys at Law LLC in September 2016.

The bumpy road on her journey to law started as a dream at just 12 years old.

“My family life fell apart when I was 14 and I made the decision to leave home at 15,” she says. “I started working full time at 16 out of necessity.”

Creson hasn’t stopped since. As a straight-A student in high school, she couldn’t keep up with the demands of her job and her education. A school counselor encouraged Creson to graduate early and she took the ACT, graduating with a 5.0 GPA and receiving an academic scholarship to Drury University.

She continued to work full time and began to notice her efforts paying off.

“I finally felt financially stable. I had been promoted at work twice and I was excelling at my classes,” she says.

Creson graduated with a bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations in 2009 and a master’s degree in communications in 2013. But her childhood dream still rang loudly in her head.

“I had wanted to attend law school since I was 12 but was terrified of the debt I would incur,” she says. “After years of dreaming about the possibility, I took the plunge in 2013.”

As was her style, Creson continued to work a full-time job as she enrolled at University of Missouri-Columbia, something virtually none of her classmates did. Taking class loads of 17 or 18 hours her final few semesters, Creson graduated in the top 20 percent of her class. Her law career began as a summer clerk at her current firm, and today she works in a variety of law fields, including real estate and property, business, labor and employment, and personal injury.

“Megan has excelled as an associate attorney in our office since graduating,” says Lowther Johnson partner Kory Stubblefield. “She has exhibited the interest, dedication and drive necessary to become an instrumental part of our firm.”

Creson says her own early struggles help her relate better to clients going through difficult times.

“I have gotten to know them very well and have made it my practice to share with them my full assessment,” she says.

A Springfield native who returned after college, Creson seeks to help the community that nurtured her. She’s in the process of volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks and Habitat for Humanity of Springfield. She also applied to join Rotaract, the local Rotary group of young professionals under 30, and takes part in a running group to support area causes.

“This community has in many ways become my extended family,” she says.