Vol. 6 No. 5 | Feb. 4, 2026
Courts
Supreme Court of Oklahoma
Court of Criminal Appeals
- 2026 OK CR 3: STATE v. LUEVANO
Court of Civil Appeals
No published opinions this week.
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
February Bar Journal Online Now
The February issue of the Oklahoma Bar Journal is available online now! This issue focuses on criminal law, featuring articles on victims' rights, admissibility of victims' statements, rehabilitation for some offenders and more. You'll also learn about how the Oklahoma judiciary is celebrating America's upcoming 250th birthday and how to prevent data breaches before they begin.
FEATURES
When Rights Aren’t Enough: A Survivor-Attorney’s Critique of Victims’ Rights in Oklahoma and Beyond
By Rhiannon K. Thoreson
The Administrative Side of Driving While Under the Influence: The Complicated and Unknown
By Sabah Khalaf
Admissible at What Cost? Senate Bill 607 and Its Constitutional Concerns
By Virginia D. Henson, Margaret A. East and Mahak H. Merchant
Habilitation, Not Just Rehabilitation: A New Approach to Justice for Male Offenders
By David C. Phillips III, Dr. F. Daniel Duffy and Lindy Myers
From the President | Beyond the Courtroom: The Power of Lawyers in Everyday Life
"As lawyers, we know all too well that the general public typically associates the legal profession with litigation. I am the first to admit that there are some (often great!) legal dramas, both fictional and nonfictional, played out on movie screens, TV shows and podcasts that tend to cultivate that perception. Even our friends and family may not fully understand that the true impact of lawyers is found in our daily work as advocates, problem-solvers, educators and civic leaders. So, while the work we do in courtrooms is significant, we lawyers also play a vital role in the health and stability of our communities, often in ways that extend far beyond courtrooms and legal briefs."
Ninth OBA Leadership Academy Class Gets Underway
"Cultivating emerging leaders is critical to the future of our association and our state. To support bar members as they develop the skills and networks necessary to embrace opportunities to serve, the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Leadership Academy kicked off its ninth cohort with members convening for the first time on Jan. 15. Over the coming year, participants will build the skills and networks needed to take on leadership roles within the bar and in their communities.
Selected for the ninth class of the OBA Leadership Academy were: Joel Auringer, Tulsa; Mackenzie Kennedy, Tulsa; Matt Kiehn, Oklahoma City; Katie Linhardt, Nichols Hills; Hilda Loury, Oklahoma City; Maxfield Malone, Tulsa; Austin Manley, Yukon; Savannah Mendenhall, Tulsa; Josh Pumphrey, Shawnee; Alyssa Sloan, Oklahoma City; Morgan Smith, Oklahoma City; Elizabeth Stevens, Norman; Alexandra Walsh (King), Tulsa; Bailey Malone Warren, Norman; Mitchell Wells, Tulsa; and Afiya Wilkins, Oklahoma City."
Important Reminders: MCLE Deadline, Dues Are Due
DUES ARE DUE | The deadline to pay your 2026 OBA membership dues without a late fee is Tuesday, Feb. 17. Please make your dues payment today! Visit your MyOKBar page to remit dues online.
MCLE DEADLINE APPROACHING | The deadline to earn your required credit for 2025 was Dec. 31. The deadline to report your earned credit or a qualified exemption for 2025 is Tuesday, Feb. 17. Unless you are reporting an exemption, the minimum annual requirement is 10 general credits and 2 ethics credits for a total of 12 credits. All credit must be OK MCLE approved. To access your MCLE information, log in to MyOKBar and click "MyMCLE." Still need credit? Check out great CLE offerings at ok.webcredenza.com. If you have questions about your credit, email mcle@okbar.org.
A New Way To Earn MCLE Credit
Recently, the Oklahoma Supreme Court amended the rules for mandatory continuing legal education to include writing scholarly articles that are published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal. The MCLE Commission will award 6 credits per published article for each contributing author. Contact OBA Communications Director and Oklahoma Bar Journal Managing Editor Lori Rasmussen to learn more about this opportunity.
Featured CLE
Tax Season and the 1099 Lawyers Should Never Receive
By OBA Management Assistance Program Director Julie Bays
It is tax season, which means banks are sending out 1099 forms.
If you receive a 1099 for your IOLTA trust account, stop and do not ignore it.
That should never happen.
In a properly set up IOLTA account, the interest does not belong to the lawyer, and it does not stay in the account. The bank is supposed to automatically remit that interest to the Oklahoma Bar Foundation. The lawyer should never see it, never report it and never receive a tax form for it.
So how does something like this occur?
Sometimes, the bank simply sets the account up wrong. That happens more often than you might think. But if interest has been accumulating in the account long enough for the bank to issue a 1099, that also means no one noticed.
Interest does not appear overnight. It shows up on monthly statements. It shows up in the transaction register. It shows up during reconciliation.
Which means this is not just a bank mistake. It is a reconciliation mistake.
A properly functioning IOLTA account should be boring. You should never see interest credited to it. Ever. If you do, that is your cue to stop immediately and call the bank.
This is why reviewing your trust account statements and performing a true three-way reconciliation every month matters so much. Reconciliation is not just about making sure the math works. It is about spotting activity that should never be there in the first place.
Software will happily reconcile an account that is set up completely wrong. Only a lawyer who understands what an IOLTA should look like will catch this in the first month.
If it has been a while since you reviewed the basics of trust accounting and three-way reconciliation, now is a good time for a refresher. I wrote a detailed article for the Oklahoma Bar Journal, “Trust Accounting Basics,” that walks you through the process step by step.
You can also learn more about how IOLTA interest is handled by visiting the Oklahoma Bar Foundation.
Your IOLTA account should never surprise you. If it does, that is the warning sign.
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.