Vol. 5 No. 5 | Jan. 29, 2025

Courts

No published opinions this week.

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

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The first regular session of the 60th Oklahoma Legislature convenes Monday, Feb. 3, at noon. Hundreds of bills have been prefiled – many of them potentially affecting your practice or the administration of justice. Join the OBA Legislative Monitoring Committee at 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 31, at the Oklahoma Bar Center as they identify top bills of interest to the OBA and your practice area. Register to join us in person or via webcast.

"Orders are the voice of the court. They encapsulate and declare the court’s application of the law to the facts. Orders establish the rights and obligations of the parties and guide future proceedings, and some orders provide a basis for appellate review. Orders are a critical component of the record, which tells the story of the case. Therefore, all orders should fully and accurately reflect the court’s rulings.

An attorney, as an officer of the court, may be charged directly by the court or by local or district court rule to draft a proposed order for the court’s signature. A proposed order is the work product of the court and not of the drafting attorney, so it should be prepared in the neutral voice of an independent arbiter of the law. The attorney should honor the court by using articulate, objective legal writing that accurately reflects the court’s entire ruling and by thoroughly complying with all rules in the execution of the process."

"Uniform laws have been part of the legal landscape in Oklahoma for more than a century. The first uniform act was adopted in Oklahoma more than 100 years ago: The Uniform Negotiable Instruments Law of 1896, the first uniform law adopted in every state, was adopted in Oklahoma in 1909. Since then, Oklahoma has enacted more than 140 uniform acts – including the landmark Uniform Commercial Code – and, in recent years, the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, the Uniform Athlete Agents Act, the Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act and the Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act, as well as important revisions to the Uniform Commercial Code.

Uniform laws impact the lives of Oklahoma citizens every day – from a simple transaction, such as a child buying candy, to a complex partnership agreement, these and many more transactions are governed by uniform laws. Although lawyers in Oklahoma use uniform laws every day, many are unfamiliar with the origins of these laws."

We want to feature your work in the Oklahoma Bar Journal. "The Back Page" is a space for attorneys to share their creative work. Submit advice or articles related to the legal field, share something transforming or intriguing, or show off your photography skills. Email your submissions of roughly 500 words or high-resolution photos to OBA Communications Director Lori Rasmussen.

The list of applicants for the Feb. 25-26 bar exam has been published online.

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.

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.

Featured CLE

Management Assistance Program 1 (1)

By OBA Management Assistance Program Director Jim Calloway

Trauma-informed lawyer reaches out to clientIt is impossible to teach everything we lawyers need to know in law school. Lawyers involved in domestic practice often deal with emotional and unhappy clients. I’m sure the law schools do a better job today, but I received little training on client counseling, and certainly there was no discussion of the impact of trauma on some clients’ ability to communicate, reach decisions or even protect their own interests. Even the way you phrase your questions may be important in unlocking information. But the issue is not limited to domestic clients or abuse survivors. The client injured in an automobile accident may be traumatized by the wreck or the inability to return to work quickly.

"Trauma-Informed Lawyering: What It Is and Why It Matters" is an excellent post on the Texas Bar Practice Blog, which is easy to read and includes links to many other resources, including a lengthy piece in the Clinical Law Review.

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.

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