Vol. 6 No. 37 | Sept. 16, 2026
Courts
Supreme Court of Oklahoma
- 2026 OK 59: RE: IDENTIFICATION OF JUDGES ON PER CURIAM OPINIONS OF THE COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS
- 2026 OK 60: IN THE MATTER OF X.W., Deprived Child: JESSICA WORLEY-MAYCUMBER v. STATE OF OKLAHOMA
- 2026 OK 61: THOMAS & GOZA v. LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY
- 2026 OK 62: IN RE: AUTHORIZATION OF CASE TYPE AE
- 2026 OK 63: RIVERO v. STAHLHEBER
- 2026 OK 64: STATE OF OKLAHOMA, ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. COBB
Court of Criminal Appeals
No published opinions this week.
Court of Civil Appeals
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
More
Animal Law | Defending Criminal Dog-Bite Cases in Oklahoma
"Dog bite cases are often discussed as civil cases. Oklahoma lawyers know the familiar civil shorthand: 'strict liability,' 'owner,' 'provocation,' 'lawful presence' and 'damages.' But when a bite, mauling or dog-related death becomes a criminal case, that shorthand can become dangerous. Criminal liability is not civil strict liability with a badge attached. The state must prove a criminal offense, under a charging statute, beyond a reasonable doubt. The dog may also become the subject of an animal control proceeding, a dangerous dog designation, an impoundment order or a request for euthanasia before the criminal case is resolved."
Law Practice Tips | Building Better Law Office Systems One Checklist at a Time
"Every law office has procedures. The question is whether they are written down or stored inside the heads of the lawyer and a few long-time staff members. Ask a newer employee how to open a matter, process an advance-fee payment, run a conflict check or close a file, and the answer is often, 'Let me ask Susan.' Experienced staff members are invaluable, but a well-run office should not depend entirely on anyone’s memory.
Simple checklists and written procedures help ensure that routine tasks are performed consistently. They can reduce errors, make training and delegation easier, and help the practice operate more smoothly as it grows and changes.
In The Checklist Manifesto, surgeon and author Atul Gawande describes how professionals in complex, high-risk fields use simple checklists to reduce mistakes and improve outcomes."
Register Now for Launching Your Law Practice on Oct. 29
Launching Your Law Practice is a free semiannual workshop for new lawyers, those returning to private practice or those venturing out on their own. This program, held Thursday, Oct. 29, will teach you how to build a client-centered practice, use AI to boost efficiency, understand malpractice insurance and choose the right tech tools for your practice. Plus, get hands-on practice with trust accounting and start drafting your business plan with guidance from OBA staff. This event is sponsored by Oklahoma Attorneys Mutual Insurance Co.
Email Nickie Day or call 405-416-7050 to register for this workshop.
Annual Meeting Sponsorships Available
Becoming a sponsor or vendor is a great way to network and share your product or service with Oklahoma attorneys. Please note that space is limited.
For more information on becoming a sponsor for this year's OBA Annual Meeting, email Gigi McCormick or call her at 405-416-7028.
Featured CLE
FYI: Google Has Entered the Legal AI Market
By OBA Management Assistance Program Director Julie Bays
Just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be another legal AI product to keep track of, Google has entered the legal AI market.
In August, Google Cloud announced Gemini Enterprise for Legal, a new version of its Gemini Enterprise platform designed specifically for law firms and corporate legal departments. It is currently available in preview and joins a rapidly growing field of legal AI products from companies including Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and a long list of legal technology vendors.
What makes Google’s approach interesting is that it isn’t simply another chatbot for lawyers. Gemini Enterprise for Legal is designed to connect with many of the systems lawyers already use. Its announced partners include iManage, NetDocuments, Thomson Reuters, Harvey, Legora, Everlaw, RelativityOne, Docusign and the Free Law Project’s CourtListener database.
Google says the system can assist with tasks such as drafting legal briefs, checking citations, reviewing contracts, monitoring regulatory developments and preparing other legal documents. It can also use information from an organization’s own systems and work with other legal AI products through those integrations.
Whether this approach ultimately proves useful for most law firms remains to be seen. But the announcement is another indication that the major technology companies see the legal profession as an important market for AI.
And, as always, lawyers should remember that adding reliable documents, legal databases or other source material to an AI workflow does NOT guarantee that the AI’s answer will be accurate. Generative AI can still misunderstand information, make incorrect conclusions or simply make things up. Citations, quotations, legal authorities and substantive legal analysis still need to be independently verified.
Interestingly, Google’s own general counsel, Halimah DeLaine Prado, recently made essentially the same point when discussing AI and the legal profession. She described AI as a complement to lawyers rather than a replacement and emphasized that the practice of law ultimately depends upon good human judgment. See "Google’s general counsel says AI cant’ replace human judgement."
Further reading: Artificial Lawyer, "Google Launches Gemini Enterprise for Legal."
The Oklahoma Bar Journal is a publication of the Oklahoma Bar Association. All rights reserved. Copyright© 2026 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.