Vol. 5 No. 18 | April 30, 2025
Courts
- 2025 OK 27: RE: Revocation of Certificates of Certified Shorthand Reporters
- 2025 OK 28: RE: Reinstatement of Certificates of Certified Shorthand Reporters
- 2025 OK 29: LUNN v. CONTINENTAL MOTORS, INC. et al.
- 2025 OK 30: OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v BOYD
No published opinions this week.
- 2025 OK CIV APP 12: HADDAN ET AL. v. THE COVES MASTER ASSOCIATION, INC. ET AL.
Dispositions Other than by Published Opinions
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma Court Calendar
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is in session year round, unless otherwise noted. The court regularly schedules conferences on Mondays and other days as needed.
Member Transitions
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"Each year, Law Day is the day set aside to celebrate the law and its importance in our lives. It is our role as lawyers to enhance public understanding of the law and the role it plays in maintaining a fair and just society. Although Law Day has been celebrated nationally on May 1 since 1958, Law Day has a special significance for those of us admitted to practice in Oklahoma – Law Day had its inception in our state when Seminole lawyer Hicks Epton launched the 'Know Your Courts, Know Your Rights' initiative in the early 1950s. It is our turn to proudly carry this tradition forward.
This year’s theme is 'The Constitution’s Promise: Out of Many, One.' This theme has guided us to think about our civic duties as well as our professional responsibility as lawyers to take a proactive stance in educating the public. Law Day is a time for all of us to think about the framework that unites us as citizens.
As we take this moment to reflect on these principles, we can also take pride in that for nearly 50 years, the OBA has celebrated Law Day by hosting the Ask A Lawyer community service event, sponsoring educational content aimed at public audiences and holding art and writing contests for Oklahoma students in pre-K through 12th grade."
"The governor of Oklahoma is the 'chief magistrate' of the state government, directly elected by the people of Oklahoma and charged by the Oklahoma Constitution with the duty of 'caus[ing] the laws of the State to be faithfully executed.' The people also elect an attorney general, whom the Legislature has declared the 'chief law officer of the state,' with statutory authority to 'take and assume control' of any litigation involving the state. These competing authorities inevitably lead to conflict between Oklahoma’s top executive officials. The proper division of power between the governor and the attorney general is no mere matter of arcane political interest. It is a question of paramount constitutional significance that directly impacts the liberty of all Oklahomans."
"Tucked away in the wilderness of Yellowstone National Park lies a remote, potentially lawless region ominously dubbed the 'Zone of Death' – a place where the beauty of nature hides a dangerous legal anomaly. Imagine a 50-square-mile area where jurisdictional oversight and constitutional safeguards coalesce into the perfect storm, allowing someone to theoretically commit a federal crime without fear of punishment."
On Tuesday, April 29, new bar members took their Oath of Attorney at St. Luke's Methodist Church in Oklahoma City. The oath was administered by Chief Justice Dustin P. Rowe. Fifty-four new attorneys were among a group who passed the bar exam this past February. Following the swearing-in, individuals signed the roll of attorneys before joining their friends and families for photos. The Oklahoma Bar Association is proud to welcome this group of new attorney members!
The OBA encourages these new attorney members (and all members sworn in for the first time within the last 10 years) to get involved with the Young Lawyers Division. All members of the Oklahoma Bar Association in good standing who were first admitted to the practice of law in the past 10 years are automatically YLD members, regardless of age.
Judge Lumpkin Recognized at Judicial Center Ceremony
Presiding Judge Gary L. Lumpkin of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals was presented with his 50-year anniversary pin during a ceremony at the Oklahoma Judicial Center on April 23. OBA President D. Kenyon Williams Jr. made remarks during the event and presented Judge Lumpkin with his 50-year certificate. Judge Lumpkin earned his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1974 after serving on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1968-1971, serving 18 months in Vietnam. After serving as a district attorney and associate district judge in Marshall County and district judge for the 20th Judicial District, he was appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals by Gov. Henry Bellmon in 1989.
through June 13. Book online or by phone at 800-547-3928. When booking by phone, mention the OBA room block and the code OK State Bar — OBA 1. Hurry, these rooms will sell out fast!
Featured CLE
By OBA Management Assistance Program Director Jim Calloway
Lawyers appreciate that many of our security threats today come directly into our inboxes. In addition, spam that is not trapped by a spam filter wastes your valuable time. Despite this, we often give out our email addresses freely.
You may not be familiar with email masking, but it is a useful email management tool. When you share your email address, you don’t know if you will receive a single email or be added to a collection of lawyer email addresses for sale on the dark web.
Several services provide email masking, including DuckDuckGo Email Protection, Proton Mail, Firefox Relay by Mozilla, FastMail and Addy.io. Apple iCloud+ premium subscription offers a "Hide My Email" feature that lets users generate unique, random email addresses.
"One Tech Tip: Don’t give your email to strangers, use a decoy address instead" is a comprehensive piece on the topic by Kelvin Chan. He has some great tips.
"The idea behind email masking is simple," he writes. "The masking service gives you a randomized address you can use as a decoy instead of your actual email. It can be a series of unrelated words, or a string of letters and numbers. When someone sends a message to the burner email, it will be automatically routed to your address without anyone knowing."
The free email masking services rarely allow for a reply, which is fine for newsletter subscriptions but a problem if you use the alias to purchase something online and the site needs to contact you about an issue.
The Oklahoma Bar Journal is a publication of the Oklahoma Bar Association. All rights reserved. Copyright© 2025 Oklahoma Bar Association. Statements or opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff. Although advertising copy is reviewed, no endorsement of any product or service offered by any advertisement is intended or implied by publication. Advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their ads, and the OBA reserves the right to edit or reject any advertising copy for any reason. Legal articles carried in The Oklahoma Bar Journal are selected by the Board of Editors. Information about submissions can be found at www.okbar.org.