Vol. 3 No. 2 | Jan. 11, 2023
Courts
No published opinions this week.
No published opinions this week.
- 2023 OK CIV APP 1: TRAITZ v. TRAITZ
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.
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Bar Center Holiday Hours
The Oklahoma Bar Center will be closed Monday, Jan. 16, in recognition of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
Newly elected officers and board members will take their oaths of office on Friday, Jan. 20, at 10 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Capitol Ceremonial Courtroom. Officers to be sworn in are:
- President Brian T. Hermanson, Ponca City
- President-Elect Miles T. Pringle, Oklahoma City
- Vice President D. Kenyon Williams Jr., Tulsa
- Immediate Past President James R. Hicks, Tulsa
Also taking oaths as members of the OBA Board of Governors are:
- John E. Barbush, Durant, District Two (three-year term)
- Nicholas E. Thurman, Ada, District Eight (three-year term)
- Jana L. Knott, El Reno, District Nine (three-year term)
- Timothy L. Rogers, Tulsa, member at large (three-year term)
- Caroline M. Shaffer Siex, Tulsa, Young Lawyers Division chairperson (one-year term)
OBA leadership roles are voluntary positions in which lawyers serve while continuing to practice law. Learn more about the 17 volunteers who guide your association in this month's Oklahoma Bar Journal.
"If you watched the 2022 Super Bowl, you may be excused for concluding that the virtual currency revolution was here, and you were missing out. In fact, it was reported in February 2022 by Bloomberg News, '$112.9 million has been spent on national crypto-related ads since the start of 2020.' For perspective, the number of Americans with exposure to crypto assets is estimated to be 12%, while approximately 58% own stock. Since the Super Bowl, digital assets have experienced a 'crypto winter' in which many notable digital assets were more than 70% off their highs – and that was before the epic collapse of FTX and its sister company, Alameda Research. Here, we will discuss some of the concepts behind virtual currencies so you can have a better understanding of what is occurring."
"From the moment any of us decided on a career in law, we learned from all those who came before us. We sat at the feet of our law professors and studied our law books. We sought advice from other lawyers and judges. We didn’t know if we could do it, even after we passed the bar exam, until that first client came to us or we stepped in front of a judge for the first time. But we did it! Two of the greatest skills we must hone as counselors are listening and communicating. And listening and communicating some more with those who went before us and those coming behind.
I pledge to hear you and share information with you. We face many challenges in our profession: burnout is real, dockets are full, stress is high, income is sometimes hard-fought. Balance is a fallacy. But we persist. The OBA has many tools to help us."
The Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct impose on each member of the bar the duty to aid in guarding against the admission of candidates unfit or unqualified because of deficiency in either moral character or education. To aid in that duty, the following is a list of applicants for the bar examination to be given Feb. 21-22.
The Board of Bar Examiners requests that members examine this list and bring to the board’s attention in a signed letter any information that might influence the board in considering the moral character and fitness to practice of any applicant for admission. Send correspondence to Cary Pirrong, Administrative Director, Oklahoma Board of Bar Examiners, P.O. Box 53036, Oklahoma City, OK 73152.
Membership Reminders
Dues are due!
The deadline to pay your OBA 2023 membership dues without a late fee is Wednesday, Feb 15. Paper statements will be mailed this month to those who have not yet paid. Please help the OBA save paper, printing and postage costs by making your dues payment today! Visit MyOKBar to remit dues online.
MCLE deadline approaching.
The deadline to earn your required credit for 2022 was Dec. 31. The deadline to report your earned credit or a qualified exemption for 2022 is Feb. 15. Unless you are reporting an exemption, the minimum annual requirement is 10 general credits and two ethics credits, for a total of 12 credits. All credit must be OK MCLE approved. Please let us know how we can help you. Visit www.okmcle.org for more information.
2023 Solo & Small Firm Conference
The 2023 OBA Solo & Small Firm Conference will be held June 22-24 at the Osage Casino Hotel in Tulsa. Registration for the conference and hotel rooms will open in February. We will have the usual assortment of great CLE and fun social activities, so save the date and plan on attending now!
Featured CLE
By Jim Calloway, OBA Management Assistance Program Director
During the last couple of months of 2022, I taught several CLE programs on ethical issues with lawyers’ use of technology. Password managers are one key to ethical digital security because you can create extremely long passwords no one could guess, and you won’t be tempted to use the same password for many sites, which creates a security weakness. These tools typically make it easier to incorporate multifactor authentication, which provides even greater security.
Several times I was asked the question, “What if hackers breach the password manager? Won’t they have access to all my passwords?” In response, I explained how the passwords are stored in encrypted vaults under a “zero knowledge” scenario. That means the company does not have the password to access your vault, so it can’t be stolen from them. They protect encrypted vaults like the crown jewels. But even if one was stolen from the company, the only way they could access the file was through a brute force attack, trying thousands of possible passwords. This could take a long time – many years.
Even though LastPass reported a breach in August 2022, they assured the public that none of the encrypted vaults were downloaded. They kept up with that story for quite a while. Then, on Dec. 23, they publicly admitted that some vaults were stolen. Naked Security had very detailed coverage in its post “LastPass finally admits: Those crooks who got in? They did steal your password vaults, after all…”
What does that mean for LastPass users?
The Oklahoma Bar Journal is a publication of the Oklahoma Bar Association. All rights reserved. Copyright© 2023 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.