OCU LAW Distinguished Lecturer and OCU General Counsel J. William Conger, currently serving as the president of the Oklahoma Bar Association, will offer a welcome to participants at the OBA Solo and Small Firm Conference scheduled for June 19-21 at Lake Texoma’s Tanglewood Resort.

Several OCU LAW alumni will lead discussion sections for the conference. Kraettli Q. Epperson ‘78 will lead a presentation titled "Income Tax Issues for the Small Firm Lawyer" on Friday morning. Douglas Stump ‘82 will co-lead a presentation titled "Hot Topics in Immigration Law for the Non-Specialist" and Gina Hendryx ‘83 will present "’Trust Account Check Up:’ Safekeeping Client Funds While Maintaining Proper Business Records. Also directed to the young lawyers, but of interest to all, is a program called “I Have an Office – Now What Do I Do?”  This presentation will be from Weatherford attorney Donna Dirickson ‘96.

Registration for the conference is open now and all registration materials and information can be found at the Oklahoma Bar Association website.

On Sunday The Oklahoman profiled OCU LAW alumna DeAnn Warfel ‘95 as part of its Mother’s Day special. The article by Oklahoman staff writer Carla Hinton details how Worfel’s skills as an executive have helped her to make the transition from the corporate world to homeschooling her two daughters, Madison, 13, and Rebekah, 10. The full text of Hinton’s article is available at NewsOK.com. In addition, NewsOK produced this video detailing an average day in Warfel’s life.

Oklahoma City University School of Law will award the juris doctor degree to 147 students at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 17 at the Oklahoma City Civic Center. Stephanie K. Seymour, senior judge of the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals will deliver the commencement address. The title of her remarks is “Start At The End.”

“Judge Seymour is one of the most respected jurists in the nation.  She has been a close friend and advisor of our law school.  Our graduates and their guests can count on hearing a message that will be both meaningful and memorable,” said OCU LAW Dean Lawrence K. Hellman.

A native of Michigan, Seymour received her nomination to the Tenth Circuit bench from then-president Jimmy Carter in 1979. She served as Chief Judge of that court from 1994-2000. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Smith College and is a Harvard Law graduate. Prior to serving on the Tenth Circuit bench she was in private practice in Boston, Houston and Tulsa.

This semester kicked off with a flurry of events, including a visit from our first annual Jurist-in-Residence and from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. This video reviews some of the highlights of the Spring 2008 semester:

 

OCU LAW Professor Carla Spivack’s recent podcast interview on Shakespeare and the law has garnered attention from both Oklahoma City and Tulsa media outlets in recent weeks.

Two weeks ago, Journal Record reporter Marie Price featured Spivack’s work using the OCU LAW News podcast interview as her source.

This week, The Tulsa World’s editorial writers mentioned Spivack’s work in their Sunday "Stems and Pieces" section.

The price of a barrel of oil has risen past $120 for the first time in history this week, driven in part by increasing violence in Nigeria, where rebels have attacked oil wells and pipelines that feed into an export terminal.

OCU LAW Professor Phyllis Bernard spoke about the situation in Nigeria and her efforts with Alternative Dispute Resolution groups there in a recent OCU LAW News Podcast. You can play the podcast in the OCU LAW News Podcast Player in the sidebar. It also is available on iTunes and on the OCU LAW News Blog.

OCU LAW alumni were honored as part of Law Day events this week, including U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Howland (’64), who received the 2008 Journal Record Award.  

The Journal Record’s Marie Price covered the annual Oklahoma County Bar Association’s Law Day luncheon yesterday, held at the Sheraton in downtown Oklahoma City. Law Day is now in its 50th year.

Howland’s career began as a night clerk for the FBI while working his way through the Oklahoma City University School of law. He clerked for several state and federal judges and served as a federal prosecutor as well as in private practice before his initial appointment as a federal magistrate in 1978. He retired from his judicial post in March.

Several other OCU LAW alums received Journal Record Leadership in Law awards — including Gayle L Barrett (’82); Bob Ravitz (’76), who also serves as an adjunct professor; Judge Vicki Robertson (’78); and Robert Sheets (’79). Adjunct Professor Douglas Sorocco was also honored.

You can read Marie Price’s roundup of Law Day events here.

2002 OCU LAW alumnus Hiram Sasser is quoted in today’s Wall Street Journal in an opinion piece penned by Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy and religious liberty agency.

In the piece — which focuses on the recent removal of children from the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) polygamist sect’s Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas — Sasser is quoted in his capacity as director of litigation for the Liberty Legal institute.

You can read the entire opinion piece here.

In this video, OCU LAW alumnus Bob Burke ‘79 discusses his new book, which he co-authored with OCU LAW professor Von Creel. The book is an overview of the history of OCU LAW, and a look at the people who shaped that history, from its humble beginnings until the present day.

 

Kendra M. Robben, a 2007 graduate of OCU LAW, was featured in a business page Q&A feature in The Oklahoman earlier this month.

Robben talked to The Oklahoman about a new state law that ends the state income tax on gains on sales of some assets.

Robben is a tax attorney at the Oklahoma City law firm of Hartzog Conger Cason & Neville.

You can read the full Q&A here.