About Summer
Summer Masterson-Goethals built her early academic foundation in Springfield. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Missouri State University in 2000. She later returned to school and received her J.D. from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School in 2011.
Her first legal internships put her inside federal court work. In 2010 she interned at the Federal Defender's Office for the Western District of Missouri. That experience exposed her to criminal defense practice and courtroom procedure. After law school she joined Legal Aid of Southwest Missouri in 2011, handling civil matters for clients who could not afford private counsel.
The move from public service to private practice came a few years later. In 2015 she founded Masterson Law. The firm allowed her to shift into an attorney role where she could apply lessons from legal aid and federal defender work to a broader case mix. She has maintained membership in local and national professional organizations, including the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association and the National Association of Consumer Advocates since 2011. She also completed the Missouri Bar Leadership Academy in 2014.
Colleagues describe her background as practical and hands-on. Her early work in legal aid required handling an array of civil disputes, from housing and benefits matters to consumer issues. Her time at the Federal Defender's Office added courtroom experience and a familiarity with federal procedure. Those years shaped her approach to case management and client communication.
At Masterson Law she runs a small practice that combines direct client work with managing the daily operations of the firm. She represents individuals in matters that often involve consumer protection and civil legal issues. She balances casework with bar association activities and ongoing professional development.
She is admitted to the Missouri bar and maintains an active license. In her practice she applies the procedural knowledge gained in federal and civil settings to represent clients in consumer and related civil matters.
Her current practice focuses on consumer protection and civil legal matters.
