Vol. 6 No. 29 | July 22, 2026
Courts
Supreme Court of Oklahoma
Court of Criminal Appeals
No published opinions this week.
Court of Civil Appeals
- 2026 OK CIV APP 23: COCHRAN ET AL. V. OKLAHOMA WATER RESOURCES BOARD
- 2026 OK CIV APP 24: IN THE MATTER OF THE ADOPTION OF C.G., AND P.P.
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
Preparations Underway for the 2026 OBA Annual Meeting Nov. 11-13 | Submit Delegate and Election Information Today
Save the date and make plans to attend this year's OBA Annual Meeting, held Nov. 11-13 at the Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City. This year's theme is "Generations of Justice: 250 Years Strong," reflecting on the impact of lawyers throughout America's 250-year history. The 2026 event will include bar business, OBA Awards presentations, impactful CLE opportunities, and section and committee meetings.
SUBMIT YOUR COUNTY DELEGATE INFORMATION
Calling all county bar associations! It's time to submit your local delegates to this year's House of Delegates, to be held during the 2026 OBA Annual Meeting at the Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City. In accordance with OBA bylaws, the House of Delegates shall be composed of one delegate or alternate from each county of the state, who shall be an active or senior member of the bar of such county. A PDF is available online with the count of members per county and the corresponding number of delegates and alternates allowed for each county. Contact Mark Schneidewent at marks@okbar.org for more information.
SUBMIT NOMINATING PETITIONS FOR OBA LEADERSHIP
As always, important bar business is conducted during Annual Meeting, including the election of officers and members of the Board of Governors. The deadline for submitting nominating petitions for 2027 OBA leadership is 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14 .
The Board of Governors is comprised of 17 active members of the Oklahoma Bar Association. One representative is elected for each of the nine Supreme Court judicial districts, as such districts existed prior to Jan. 1, 2020 [Order No. SCBD 4483 (2020 OK 17)], by lawyers in those respective districts, plus three statewide at-large members and the Young Lawyers Division chairperson. Officers are the president, vice president, president-elect and secretary/treasurer.
SUBMIT NOMINATING PETITIONS FOR YOUNG LAWYERS DIVISION
The 2027 OBA YLD leadership election season is here! Dedicated young lawyers are encouraged to participate in elections. Article 5 of the division bylaws requires that any eligible member wishing to run for office must submit a nominating petition to the Nominating Committee. The petition must be signed by at least 10 members of the OBA YLD and must be submitted by Friday, Aug. 14, at 5 p.m. A separate petition must be filed for each opening, except a petition for a directorship shall be valid for one-year and two-year terms and at-large positions. A person must be eligible for division membership for the entire term for which elected.
All OBA members in good standing who were admitted to the practice of law 10 years ago or less are members of the YLD. Membership is automatic – if you were first admitted to the practice of law in 2016 or later, you are a member of the OBA YLD.
DEADLINE
Nominating petitions, accompanied by a photo and bio of 350 words or less for publication in the Oklahoma Bar Journal, must be sent to lrtalbert@gmail.com no later than 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. Results of the election will be announced at the YLD meeting at the OBA Annual Meeting Nov. 11-13 at the Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City.
Benefits in Brief | OBA Ethics Counsel
Valued at $250 an hour, the OBA Ethics Counsel is a benefit included in your OBA membership. Receive informal advice, interpretations of the rules of attorney conduct, free assistance with ethical questions and inquiries on subjects such as conflicts, confidentiality and client concerns. The counsel also offers CLE on ethics to groups and associations. Call 405-416-7055 or email ethics@okbar.org.
Join Us in Wishing Good Luck to July Bar Examinees
On July 28 and 29, law school graduates will be taking the bar exam at the Oklahoma Bar Center. To help boost morale, the OBA Young Lawyers Division will be assembling bar exam survival kits to pass out to examinees. Kits contain essentials like protein bars, earplugs, stress balls and aspirin.
As a reminder, all lawyers practicing 10 years or fewer, who are in good standing, are automatically part of the OBA Young Lawyers Division. Getting involved with the YLD gives you opportunities for leadership, networking and even paying it forward – helping prepare next year's survival kits!
Write for the Bar Journal | View the Editorial Calendar
Submissions are now being accepted for numerous themed topics for the 2026 and 2027 issues of the Oklahoma Bar Journal. Editors are recruiting authors to write articles in the areas of animal law, taxation, appellate law, real estate law and much more. Submission information is available online, and the editorial calendar will connect you with the specific editor for each topic. Contact OBA Communications Director Lori Rasmussen with questions.
'The Back Page' Submissions Needed
What is “The Back Page"? It is that final word, the final impact, the valuable insight you might want to share with the world. It's meant to convey humor, intrigue and to inspire others. It is intended to be a broad area where Oklahoma attorneys can submit meaningful articles. Short articles that don't fill a particular slot will be considered for publication here. The author will receive a byline. Articles will not be published anonymously. All entries must relate to the practice of law. These entries may include articles, reflections or other insights.
Send submissions of approximately 500-600 words to Lori Rasmussen, managing editor. Authors will be notified by email if their piece is selected for publication.
Featured CLE
Microsoft Word Workshop for Lawyers: Formatting, Styles and Sanity
By OBA Management Assistance Program Director Julie Bays
Artificial Intelligence may be getting most of the attention these days, but lawyers still spend a good part of every workday in Microsoft Word. We use it to draft contracts, pleadings, briefs, letters, discovery and many other documents. Yet most of us never received any real training in Word. We just learned enough to get the document finished and filed.
In “Microsoft Word Tips for Lawyers: Three Ways to Make Word Work Better,” Ben Schorr offers three practical suggestions for working more efficiently with long documents. He explains how to use the navigation pane, work with the styles pane and adjust the way a document appears on your screen.
His discussion of the navigation pane is also a good example of how Word’s features work together. The navigation pane can serve as a dynamic table of contents and even allow you to move an entire section of a document. But it works best when the document has been properly organized using heading styles. If automatic numbering has been set up correctly, Word can also renumber the document after a section is moved.
The problem is that many lawyers do not know how these features work together. That is when Word becomes frustrating. A simple formatting change can disrupt the whole document, paragraph numbers can stop cooperating, or a file that looked fine yesterday can develop problems right before filing.
Learning to use Word more effectively is not just about saving time or avoiding frustration. Lawyers rely on Word to create documents for courts, clients and opposing counsel. Understanding styles, numbering, formatting and document structure can help reduce errors and produce more consistent, professional and reliable legal documents.
JOIN US FOR A MICROSOFT WORD WORKSHOP
If you spend too much time fighting with formatting, or you suspect there must be an easier way to do the work you perform every day, join us for an in-person Microsoft Word Workshop on Aug. 4 from 1 to 5 p.m.
This hands-on workshop will move from Word’s essential formatting tools to the advanced features lawyers need to create, repair and manage complex legal documents, including styles, automatic numbering, problem-document cleanup, navigation, tables of contents, cross-references, footnotes and tables of authorities.
The registration fee is $115.
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.