Fischback is a 1987 graduate of Oklahoma City University School of Law.  He has more than 30 years of experience in the oil and gas exploration and production business.  he counsels clients on matters such as lease acquisition, operations, environmental issues, finance, land rights, exploration, risk management, government relations/regulation, labor and litigation.

“We are excited to add Don’s voice and experience to the sound counsel Calfee has been providing our clients in the oil and gas industry for the last 30-plus years,” siad Brent D. Ballard, Managing Partner.

TO READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE, CLICK HERE.

And if you have something to share about yourself or a another alum, email lawnews@okcu.edu.

1965

RICK MARTIN and fellow alums Jack H. Petty and Jeffrey I. Crain announce their association for practice at The Bethany Law Center in Bethany, OK.

1966

JACK H. PETTY and fellow alums Rick Martin and Jeffrey I. Crain announce their association for practice at The Bethany Law Center in Bethany, OK.

1972

BILL MCCARTHY joined Hall Estill’s intellectual property practice.

1973

T. LOGAN BROWN is named a fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation.

JEFF DASOVICH is named a fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers.

1974

STEVE A. COLEMAN is named a fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation.

1975

RICK RESCORLA is honored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security by having the Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience named for him.

1976

JOHN D. SINGLETON is named a sustaining fellow of  the Oklahoma Bar Foundation.

BARRY G. STAFFORD is named a sustaining fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation.

1979

DAN SPROUSE spoke at the Capital Association of Professional Division Order Analysts in February.

1988

MARK D. KEYL announced the established of Keyl ADR Services LLC in Petal, MS.

MIKE KIEFNER is now leading Grand River Dam Authority’s Land and Property Management Department.

CARLA SNIPES has been nominated by Governor Mary Fallin to serve on the Worker’s Compensation Court.

1990

TOD S. MERCER is president of the professional corporation and senior attorney at the Mercer Law Firm in McAlester, OK.

1993

BEN BROWN was named by Governor Many Fallin to serve on the Board of Juvenile Affairs.

Judge DEBORAH HACKLER is honored by the Girl Scouts at the Juliette Low Luncheon in McAlester, OK.

1995

RANDALL MCCARTHY joined Hall Estill’s intellectual property practice.

BEVERLY I. VILARDOFSKY is named a shareholder at Phillips Murrah in Oklahoma City.

1997

Representative BEN SHERRER was re-appointed to the Developmental Disabilities Planning Council by Governor Mary Fallin.

1999

DANIEL DOOLEY joined Hall Estill’s intellectual property practice.

2001

JUSTON R. GIVENS is named a shareholder at Phillips Murrah in Oklahoma City.

2003

PAMELA J. BROWN joined offices with fellow alum Kenna K. Bolton.  They are now located in Bethany, OK.

JEFFREY I. CRAIN and fellow alums Jack H. Petty and Rick Martin announce their association for practice at The Bethany Law Center in Bethany, OK.

RICHARD L. ROSE had his article Committee to Help Take on Least Understood Branch Project published in the Law Day issue of the OBA Journal.

2004

TANYA S. BRYANT is elected a director at Crowe & Dunlevy in Oklahoma City.

2005

AUDREY HUFFMAN is named a fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation.

2006

JOI E. MCCLENDON joined Miller Dollarhide in Oklahoma City as an associate.

JUSTIN MEEK is named a fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation.

2007

AARON M. ARNALL is named a sustaining fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation.

2008

KEVIN CUNNINGHAM is named a fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation.

STEPHEN ECK is appointed vice president and general counsel of Oklahoma Christian University.

JENNIFER O’STEEN was inducted into the Leadership Greater Enid 2011-2012 Class XXI.

2010

KENNA K. BOLTON joined offices with fellow alum Pamela J. Brown.  They are now located in Bethany, OK.

TODD A. MURRAY joined the law firm of Beeler Walsh & Walsh in Oklahoma City as an associate.

JOSHUA M. SNAVELY is selected to serve as Interim Assistant Dean for Advancement at Oklahoma City University School of Law.

If you have news to share about yourself or a classmate, email lawnews@okcu.edu.

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:
Brook Arbeitman
Director of Marketing and Communications
Oklahoma City University School of Law
(405) 208-6300
bbarbeitman@okcu.edu

(OKLAHOMA CITY – April 23, 2012) –Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (ret.) will be at Oklahoma City University School of Law on April 24, 2012, providing an opportunity for students across campus to hear from a leader in the law and a pioneer on the high court.

“This is a unique opportunity to hear from a trailblazer,” said Valerie K. Couch, Dean at Oklahoma City University School of Law.  “Not only was Sandra Day O’Connor the first female justice on the Supreme Court, but she is also credited with being an open-minded, wise and moderating voice on the court.  She is a role model for many.  Justice O’Connor has a lifetime of experiences and insight to share with students from all backgrounds and we are delighted to host her at the law school.”

Justice O’Connor will discuss her life, career and her passion for civics education while on the Oklahoma City University campus.  A Conversation with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is sponsored by Oklahoma City University and the Oklahoma Bar Association and will take place at 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Homsey Family Moot Courtroom at Sarkeys Law Center (NW 23^rd & Kentucky).  The event is open to students and the university community.

O’Connor was appointed by President Ronald Reagan for the Supreme Court and sworn-in on September 25, 1981.  She served on the high court for 25 years until her retirement in January 2006.  In 2009, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.  That same year O’Connor created iCivics in an effort to reverse Americans’ declining civic knowledge and participation.  She serves as Chair of the iCivics Board of Directors and is in Oklahoma City promoting iCivics at a number of events tomorrow.

###

Download a printer-friendly version of this Media Advisory

To apply, download one of the following applications and submit as directed.

American Indian Wills Clinic Application

Immigration Law Clinic Application

Innocence Project Clinic Application

Completed Applications are due by Monday, April 23^rd, at 5:00 PM.

For more information, attend one of the Clinic Information Sessions:

Session 1: Monday, April 16^th at 5:00 p.m. (Sarkeys Room 102)
Session 2: Tuesday, April 17^th at 1:00 p.m. (Homsey Family Moot Courtroom (Sarkeys 100))

Motown legend Gladys Knight will headline a gala this week to raise money for an Oklahoma City University project.

The event is a fundraiser for Oklahoma Innocence Project, an Oklahoma City University School of Law initiative that seeks to exonerate wrongly convicted inmates.

Brook Arbeitman, a spokeswoman for the law school, said the initiative is similar to the original Innocence Project, which is affiliated with the Benjamin N. Cardoza School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York.

“The goal of the Oklahoma Innocence Project is to identify and rectify cases of wrongful conviction,” Arbeitman said.

Read the entire article from NewsOK by clicking here.

Crawford says Prof. Spivack’s article, “does force consideration of a most fundamental question: How serious are we as a society about putting an end to domestic violence?”

Pace selected her top 10 list based on the following criteria:

• according to the Current Index to Legal Periodicals, the article concerns “Taxation — Federal Estate and Gift” or “Estates and Trusts”
• the author is a full-time law professor, or, in the case of a coauthored piece, the first-listed author is a full-time law professor
• the article was published in an entirely student-edited law journal or law review in 2011
• the publishing journal is affiliated with an American Bar Association accredited law school

“This list is grounded in the belief that what professors write is of immense interest to tax practitioners and policymakers,” Pace said in her commentary.

To view the complete list of 10, click here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 19, 2012

CONTACT:
Brook Arbeitman
Director of Marketing & Communications
Oklahoma City University School of Law
(405) 208-6300
bbarbeitman@okcu.edu

(OKLAHOMA CITY – March 19, 2012) – Oklahoma City University School of Law’s Paula Dalley is the recipient of the 2012 Oklahoma City University Outstanding Faculty Award.  The Outstanding Faculty Award celebrates faculty members whose teaching, scholarship and service to the university and professional community are deemed to be exemplary.

“I feel very honored to receive this award, and I think it also recognizes the terrific environment in which I work – the faculty and staff I work with and the students who make my work worth doing,” said Prof. Dalley.

Prof. Dalley joined the OCU LAW faculty in 1996.  Prior to joining the faculty, she spent two years as a professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law.  She also practiced corporate law for five years with the New York firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore.  She received her A.B. from Princeton, Juris Doctor from Harvard and LL.M. from New York University.

Dalley teaches Agency & Unincorporated Business Associations, Corporations, Property and English Legal History for OCU LAW.  A law student recently said of Dalley, “She has mastered her areas of discipline and does an amazing job of explaining in class.  She is always willing to slow down, re-explain and talk with you after class.”

Since joining the OCU LAW faculty, Prof. Dalley has had a number of her articles published in journals and law reviews across the country.  Most recently, Dalley’s article A Theory of Agency Law was published in the University of Pittsburgh Law Review (2011) and Imagining Business Associations without Agency Law was published in Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law (2009).

Dalley is a dedicated member of the Oklahoma City University community, serving on a variety of committees across campus.  In 2011 alone, Prof. Dalley chaired the Law Dean Search Committee and the Law Strategic Planning Committee and was also a member of the President’s Budget Recommendation Committee.

Prof. Dalley is the third member of the OCU LAW faculty to receive this prestigious award – Professors Dennis Arrow (1990) and Art LeFrancois (2007) have also been recognized for their teaching, scholarship and service.

###

Download a printer-friendly version

• Gabriel Harris
• Justin Joseph
• Shawna McCalip
• Polina Thompson
• Glenn Brown (Editor)

At the competition hosted by the University of Denver, our team achieved the following:

• Won two of its four eliminations
• Two OCU briefs were ranked 5th in the region
• Justin Joseph was recognized as the 36th place oralist

“These rankings came as no surprise to me,” said OCU LAW Professor Peter Dillon.  “The five team members demonstrated impressive levels of ability, preparation, organization and cooperation in performing their appointed tasks between September, 2011 and February 2012.”

Professor Dillon contributes the team’s success this year to the valuable and generous support of the extended OCU LAW family including Dean Laity, Law Library Director Lee People and his librarians, various faculty members who helped prepare the team, former Jessupers who also provided assistance prepping the team, faculty support for their continuous administrative help and Pam Ray and Trina Arnold for their logistical support.

Join us in congratulating the 2011-2012 Jessup International Law Moot Court team for their success!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 6, 2012

Contact:
Brook Arbeitman
Director of Marketing and Communications
Oklahoma City University School of Law
(405) 208-6300
bbarbeitman@okcu.edu

(OKLAHOMA CITY – March 6, 2012) – Oklahoma City University School of Law welcomes United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Judge David Ebel as the 2012 McAfee & Taft Distinguished Jurist-in-Residence.  Judge Ebel will deliver a public lecture titled “Things I Wish I Had Known When I was a New Lawyer” on Monday, April 9, 2012 in the Homsey Family Moot Courtroom at OCU LAW.  The lecture will begin at 5 p.m.

Judge Ebel spent 21 years in private practice at a law firm and as in-house counsel for a corporation.  He has an additional 22 years experience on the bench, both as an appellate judge and as a trial judge.  His experiences include litigation, corporate transactional work and business transactions, academics, significant pro bono and indigent representation, civic involvement and politics.  Drawing upon these diverse experiences, Judge Ebel will give advice and tell stories of the most important things he has learned along the way.

“What an exceptional opportunity for our students to hear from one of the leading jurists of our day,” said OCU LAW Interim Dean Eric T. Laity.  “Judge Ebel’s wealth of experience, both on the bench and as a practicing attorney, will provide great insight on what awaits our students after law school.”

The Jurist-in-Residence program is a partnership between OCU LAW and the Oklahoma City firm of McAfee & Taft that brings respected members of the bench to campus for a unique educational opportunity.

“For years, it’s been our great pleasure to partner with OCU LAW to help bring such distinguished state and federal judges to Oklahoma to share their insights, experiences and perspectives with law students and the legal community on the judicial process and current legal issues,” said Richard Nix, managing director of McAfee & Taft.

Appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 1988, Judge Ebel took senior status in 2006.  While serving as a Judge, Judge Ebel has also been active as an Adjunct Professor of Law.  He has taught a course on Ethics and Professionalism at Duke Law School, a course on Corporations at Denver University School of Law, and a course on Ethics at the University of Colorado School of Law.

Judge Ebel grew up in Kansas.  He received his B.A. with honors in Economics from Northwestern and his J.D. from the University of Michigan in 1965.  While at Michigan, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Michigan Law Review and was elected to the Order of Coif and the Barrister Society.  After graduation, he clerked for Justice Byron R. White at the United States Supreme Court during the 1965-66 term.  He then joined the Denver firm of Davis, Graham & Stubbs.

Judge Ebel has been involved in a number of international activities pertaining to judicial governance, codes of conduct for judges and lawyers and the structure and administration of the judicial branches of various countries.  He has made several trips to Rwanda to assist in the redevelopment of the Rwanda judiciary after that country’s devastating genocide.  He has also traveled to Montenegro, Russia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Canada to assist those countries in matters pertaining to judicial governance.

In addition to his lecture, Judge Ebel will visit several classes at OCU LAW and tour the Oklahoma Innocence Project, Native American Legal Resource Center and the Immigration Clinic.

###

To download a printer-friendly version, click here

And if you have some news to share, click here.  We definitely want to include it in our next issue!!

Trautman is currently the Chairman & CEO at COGENT INFORMATION ANALYTICS, INC.  He is also a past president of the New York and Metropolitan Washington/Baltimore Chapters of the National Association of Corporate Directors.

The abstract to his article is below:

In many ways, China is the new frontier for entrepreneurship; perceived to be: a logical primary source of economical manufacturing, raw materials, component parts, and as a major end market. China may also represent the most likely future competition for many American industries as well as our major trading partner. Increased commerce between the United States and The People‟s Republic of China (“PRC”) demands that U.S. entrepreneurs understand the basic foundation for doing business in the PRC. An increasing demand for United States citizens to engage in commerce, or sit on boards dealing with significant exposure to Chinese developments has also become a reality. A comprehensive and exhaustive treatment of this subject is beyond the scope of this article. However, an identification of some major issues, with suggestions for further research, is attempted. Hopefully, constructive thinking will result from an overview of how conducting business is fundamentally different in the PRC along with an examination of relevant legal and corporate governance issues.

Click here to read a copy of the article.

OCU LAW congratulates Trautman on his accomplishment.

Click here for the latest OCU LAW newsletter.

And if you have some news to share, click here.  We definitely want to include it in our next issue.

Veteran Oklahoma attorney brings her own experiences to her first book
New Oklahoma author peppers novel with local sites, happenings
BY PAULA BURKES
Published: January 29, 2012

Simms Mitchell is an Oklahoma girl. She owns a ranch, and she can ride a horse. And, yes she knows what it means when her grandfather says, “Dad gummit , that would make a jack rabbit spit in a bulldog’s eye.” Of course, like every other properly bred southern girl, Simms was raised on football and fried chicken, and she knows never to leave the house without her lipstick on.

This teaser on the back cover of the new book “Hunting License” gives a hint at the storyline of the first novel of Shannon Davies, aka author Shannon Forth. It also hints at Davies’ real life.

Like her heroine, Davies is an Oklahoma girl who loves University of Oklahoma football. And as a veteran attorney, she, like her main character, handles sexual harassment and other employment law cases. Only none of her cases, so far, have threatened her life.

Davies self-published her book, which was released last month, and is available on Amazon.com. She has several book signings coming up, including on the evening of Feb. 29 at the Starbucks at 2929 E Memorial Road, near her home in Edmond’s Chimney Hill addition.

Read more: http://newsok.com/article/3644388#ixzz1kxJMuljd

Join in with a four-person chili team with your choice of Traditional, Non-Traditional, healthiest, Hottest chilis.  Team entries are $40.

Not interested in cooking, but love to eat chili — come and join in the fun, network and participate in the silent auction while enjoying some of the world’s best chili!  $12 person and children under 10 are at no cost.

All of the fundraising benefits the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

For more info or to purchase tickets, click here.

“Cathy Christensen is simply awesome,” said friend and incoming OCU LAW Dean Valerie K. Couch.  “Her tenacity, good judgment and ability to balance a complex life with unruffled ease all contribute to her great leadership skills.  And underpinning her considerable talents is an unstoppable devotion to the well-being of the legal profession in Oklahoma.  We will all benefit from her year as President of the OBA.”

Christensen is the President at Cathy M. Christensen & Associates, P.C. in Oklahoma City.  Her practice is in the area of family law, guardianships, adoptions, general civil litigation, and collections.  She is admitted to practice in the state of Oklahoma and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Over the years, Christensen has received a variety of awards for her service and professionalism including the OBA’s Mona S. Lambird Spotlight Award (2006), the Oklahoma County Bar Association’s Professional Service Award (201o), OBA Presidents Award (2008), and Oklahoma City University School of Law’s Award for Community Service (2009) and the Distinguished Law Alumna Award (2011).

She is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Oklahoma Bar Foundation, and the Oklahoma County Bar Association.

Additionally, OCU LAW alumna were sworn in today to the OBA Board of Governors including Gerald Dennis (District No. Two – Antlers), Glenn A. Devoll (District No. Four – Enid), and Nancy Parrott (At Large).  Each will serve a three-year term.  Jennifer Kirkpatrick ’02 will serve a one-year term as the Young Lawyers Division Chair.

###

To view pictures from the ceremony, click here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 10, 2012

CONTACT:
Brook Arbeitman
Director of Marketing and Communications
Oklahoma City University School of Law
(405) 208-6300
bbarbeitman@okcu.edu

OCU LAW Dean of Student Services Wins
National Award

(OKLAHOMA CITY – January 10, 2012) – Oklahoma City University School of Law Associate Dean for Students, Deborah R. Felice (formerly Fathree), or “Dean Deb” as OCU LAW students call her, is the 2011 recipient of the Peter N. Kutulakis award.  Felice received this national award at the annual Association of American Law Schools (AALS) meeting last week in Washington D.C.

Dean Emeritus Lawrence K. Hellman nominated Felice for the award, which was established in 2002 in memory of Associate Dean Peter N. Kutulakis of Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law.  The award recognizes the outstanding contributions of an institution, administrator, or law professor in the provision of services to law students.  Each year, the award is presented at the annual AALS meeting.

“Deb has worked tirelessly to create much-needed student services, programs, and activities for our students,” OCU LAW Dean Emeritus Lawrence K. Hellman said in his nomination letter.  “Under Deb’s leadership at OCU, the student services office has become a welcoming port for those navigating law school’s sometimes stormy waters.”

Before coming to OCU LAW, Felice served in a similar role at University of Tulsa College of Law for nine years, followed by five years at Texas Wesleyan School of Law during its American Bar Association accreditation process.  She earned her JD degree from the University of Tulsa and practiced law for three years before embarking upon her career in law student services.

“For over twenty-five years at three different law schools, Dean Felice has been a pioneer, and she has been a leader in developing the field of student services in legal education.  Among the thousands of students whom she has served are members of Generation X, Generation Y, and Millennials, as well as students of all economic backgrounds, all races, all sexual orientations, all levels of academic capacity, and a wide array of physical and emotional impairments,” said Hellman.

“Dean Felice has consistently ‘been there’ and gone the extra mile for students.  And it is not only students whom she has served, for she has been a key player in the maturation and improvement in three law schools, each one of which is a much better institution because of her dedicated performance.”

Felice is a leader who has, most recently, served as the 2009 chair of the AALS Section on Student Services.  She is also the president-elect of the Oklahoma City Downtown Exchange Club, a service organization aimed at the prevention of child abuse.

###

To download a printer-friendly version click here

Adam worked last summer in a DA’s office in Kansas.  He put his LRW skills to good use writing a brief for a case that was argued before the Kansas Supreme Court this fall.

If you haven’t seen the December issue of Student Lawyer, they ask:

“1L’s: What’s the most important class for your law career?”

This answer from a 2L at Oklahoma City University (OCU) School of Law might surprise you: It’s legal research and writing, he believes.

In a post called “LRW: The Most Important Class of Your Career: Part 1″ at OCU LAW’s The Gavel, guest blogger Adam Carey writes that 1Ls often give this class lowest priority.  Some dislike the Bluebook and others think their other courses deserve more time because they find them more difficult.

What’s the problem with that?  “The very essence of being an attorney is giving informed legal advice and making persuasive, and correct, arguments,” Carey writes. “…The hapless attorney who charges blindly into the legal maelstrom without having learned the vital lessons presented in LRW is doomed to flounder and fail.”

Carey may still be in school, but he’s already seen how important research and writing skills are in the legal workplace — and if you haven’t already seen this, he suspects you will soon.

“During your first summer job it will become clear that legal research and writing is your job,” he says.

To read Adam’s blogs in their entirety, click on the links below.

Part I

Part II

OCU LAW Program Featured on Wall Street Journal Blog

(OKLAHOMA CITY – December 13, 2011) – The Wall Street Journal law blog recently posted a story about Oklahoma City University School of Law’s Cool Tools Café.  The story originated from an Oklahoma blog and since the Wall Street Journal picked it up, it has gone viral.  OCU LAW librarians have been fielding emails from across the country about the Cool Tools Café since the story posted.

The Cool Tools Café is a training session team taught by OCU LAW’s five JD degreed librarians.  During the training session, each librarian demonstrated two or three of their favorite research or task management technology tools.  Similar programs offered at the American Association of Law Libraries annual meeting and other legal and technological conferences were the inspiration for the OCU LAW Cool Tools Café.

The Cool Tools Café is one of many training sessions offered as part of OCU LAW’s Certificate of Accomplishment in Legal Research Skills.  Right now, more than 150 law students are pursuing this innovative certificate – the only one of its kind offered by an Oklahoma law school.  It gives students a way to improve their legal research skills by completing free training sessions offered in the law library throughout their studies at OCU LAW.  This certificate program is also drawing attention from other law schools nationwide.

“The certificate program was created to give students a chance to improve their research skills and give them a credential that makes them more attractive to legal employers,” said Lee Peoples, OCU LAW Professor and Law Library Director.  “We realized that students wanted a refresher on legal research before graduation but many were not able to fit our two credit hour Advanced Legal Research Course into their schedules.”

“With as competitive and tight as the job market has become, we believe this advanced training gives our students a competitive edge when applying for jobs,” said Jennifer Prilliman, OCU LAW Reference Librarian for Public, Clinical, and Student Services.  “Because it is an additional time investment for the students, I think participation also shows a willingness to go above and beyond an already demanding law school curriculum to be prepared to be competent practicing attorneys.”

For more on the Certificate of Accomplishment in Legal Research Skills, click here.

To see the Wall Street Journal blog post, click here.

###

Download printer friendly version