Vol. 3 No. 25 | June 21, 2023
Courts
- 2023 OK 72: IN THE MATTER OF THE REINSTATEMENT OF KATINE
- 2023 OK 73: IN RE AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES GOVERNING COMPLAINTS ON JUDICIAL MISCONDUCT
- 2023 OK 74: CHILDERS v. ARROWOOD
- 2023 OK 75: STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. ELSEY
- 2023 OK 76: IN RE AMENDMENT OF OKLA. SUPREME COURT RULES FOR DRIVER'S LICENSE APPEALS
- 2023 OK 77: IN RE AMENDMENT OF OKLAHOMA SUPREME COURT RULE 1.23
- 2023 OK 78: STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. STACK
- 2023 OK 79: STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. MCCOY
- 2023 OK 80: GUILBEAU v. DURANT H.M.A.
- 2023 OK 81: FITZPATRICK v. FITZPATRICK
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
More
Oklahoma lawyers have elected two attorneys to serve as new members of the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission. Mary Quinn Cooper of Tulsa and Weldon W. Stout Jr. of Muskogee will each serve six-year terms on the 15-member commission, with terms expiring in 2029. Ms. Cooper was elected to serve as the District 1 commissioner, which is composed of Creek and Tulsa counties. Mr. Stout was the uncontested nominee to serve District 2, which is composed of 17 counties in the eastern and northeastern parts of the state.
ABOUT THE COMMISSION
The Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) consists of 15 unpaid volunteer members. Of the 15 members, only six members are lawyers. Lawyer commissioners are elected by their fellow Oklahoma Bar Association members, each representing one of six congressional districts across the state, as they were in 1967 when the commission was established.* They each serve a 6-year term. Elections are held each odd-numbered year for members from two districts.
Don't forget to submit your awards nomination! For many years, the OBA has honored lawyers and law-related organizations that show exemplary service and leadership both in the legal field and in their communities. The deadline for OBA Awards nominations is 5 p.m. Friday, June 30. All materials must be received by the deadline. Submissions or supporting material received after the deadline will not be considered.
Nomination Rules & Tips
- Nominations can be as short as a one-page letter to the Awards Committee; however, the entire nomination cannot exceed five single-sided, 8 ½ x 11-inch pages (including exhibits and support letters).
- A nomination form is not required, but it is available.
- Be sure to include the name of the person being nominated and the person (or organization) making the nomination.
- If you think someone qualifies for awards in several categories, pick one award and only do one nomination. The OBA Awards Committee may consider the nominee for an award in a category other than the one in which you nominate that person.
- You can email, mail or fax your nomination or fill out the online nomination form (pick one):
Email: awards@okbar.org (you will receive a confirmation reply)
Mail: OBA Awards Committee, P.O. Box 53036, Oklahoma City, OK 73152
Fax: 405-416-7089
OBA Awards Namesakes
Several OBA Awards were named to honor the outstanding contributions and memories of noteworthy individuals. Watch this video slideshow to learn more about these namesake OBA members, and honor their legacies by nominating someone you know today!
June is National PTSD Awareness Month. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 6% of people will suffer from PTSD in their lifetimes, and anyone of any age group can develop PTSD. Currently, 9 million in the United States are living with PTSD, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Any traumatic event can trigger PTSD, and even children can be affected.
Because lawyers are exposed to many details of clients' cases, including details that may be traumatic in nature, some may be susceptible to developing PTSD, according to a study published in Sage Journals. NAMI lists several symptoms of PTSD to look out for:
- Recurring thoughts, memories or flashbacks of traumatic events
- Avoiding places, people or objects that trigger memories
- Difficulty remembering the event, guilt or out-of-body experiences
- Hypervigilance or intense startle reflex, trouble sleeping, anger outbursts
For more information on PTSD symptoms or other mental health information, visit NAMI or NAMI Oklahoma.
If you are suffering from any of the PTSD symptoms listed above, anxiety, depression or substance abuse, the OBA offers all bar members up to six hours of free, confidential, short-term, problem-focused or crisis counseling. Call the Lawyers Helping Lawyers hotline (800-364-7886) to be referred to a counselor in your area.
The OBA Solo & Small Firm Conference welcomes CosmoLex and Rocket Matter as Bronze Sponsors for this year's conference. CosmoLex and Rocket Matter are also both member benefits! CosmoLex combines practice management, billing and accounting all in one login, helping to make your practice more compliant, efficient and profitable. OBA members receive a 10% lifetime discount. Rocket Matter helps law firms go paperless or improve confidence in their trust accounting. OBA members receive a 15% discount off the regular month-to-month pricing for life. Stop by their booths at the Solo Conference to learn more. Remember, online registration for the Solo & Small Firm Conference is now closed, but walk-ins are welcome on a limited basis.
Featured CLE
By Jim Calloway, OBA Management Assistance Program Director
“Lawyers have hated passwords since passwords first made their appearance,” some of my colleagues recently wrote. So true.
Emerging AI tools mean it is easier to crack passwords. So the standard advice for strong passwords is now at least 15 characters, with requirements of upper-case and lower-case letters, numbers, symbols and maybe a drop of blood (OK, not really). The challenge is most of us cannot remember that long of a string of random characters, and creating passwords we can remember, typically by inserting dictionary words within them, makes them easier to crack. From my point of view, the only rational solution is a password manager. The good thing about password management is that as you get more login credentials saved, you benefit from quicker logins.
Many of us who follow technology have turned against the previously popular tool LastPass. Not only did they suffer a major breach last fall, but their messaging in its wake was misleading at best with the major disclosures not released until the Christmas holidays. I switched to 1Password. PC Magazine highly ranks Dashland and Bitwarden in its best password managers of 2023 roundup.
Accounts that can access your financial information or client information should be secured with two-factor authentication. The most common way of doing this is a text message confirmation code sent to your phone that must be entered to complete your login. Many password managers also support two-factor authentication.
My podcast teammate, Sharon Nelson and two of her colleagues wrote about the next step in login security in their post "Passwords May Be Extinct Sooner Than You Think." They note that thanks to passkeys, the days of passwords will soon be numbered. Ironically that probably will not eliminate password managers as they evolve to a blend of managing some passkeys and some passwords for sites that haven’t upgraded yet.
Additional reading: "Why passkeys from Apple, Google, Microsoft may soon replace your passwords" CNBC.
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.