Vol. 6 No. 21 | May 27, 2026
Courts
Supreme Court of Oklahoma
No published opinions this week.
Court of Criminal Appeals
No published opinions this week.
Court of Civil Appeals
- 2026 OK CIV APP 14: RED DIRT INDUSTRIES, LLC v. STATE OF OKLA. ex rel. OMMA
- 2026 OK CIV APP 15: LAKEVIEW LOAN SERVICING, LLC v. JOHNSTON and MARTIN, et. al
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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From the May Bar Journal | How To Identify, Triage and Respond to the Most Common IRS Notices
"Most IRS mail is not a crisis. But it is a clock. While being on the receiving end of such a letter may not always mean an audit, it usually does mean a headache and a time sink for whoever is stepping up to handle it, whether that is you, the attorney, or your client.
This article will walk you through the eight most common IRS letters and how to handle them if you or your client should find themselves on the receiving end."
Bar Foundation News | Managing Stress in Practice: How Lawyers Helping Lawyers Can Help
"Studies find that lawyers have significantly elevated levels of mental health distress, including anxiety, depression and chronic stress, as well as higher levels of alcohol and other substance abuse disorders than other professions, including physicians. Similar findings are reported about law school students.
Specifically in our state, the OBF’s recent survey of Oklahoma lawyers confirmed the pressures of law practice. Seventy-seven percent of responding lawyers identified high levels of stress and burnout as a primary challenge lawyers are facing, 62% identified an insufficient work-life balance, and 59% cited heavy workloads and long hours. Managing stress and maintaining mental health were also cited as primary challenges law students face."
Midyear Sponsor Highlight | Phillips Murrah
The OBA welcomes Phillips Murrah as the sponsor for the plenary session at the OBA Midyear Conference, held July 17-19 at the OKANA Resort in Oklahoma City.
Phillips Murrah PC is a full-service law firm providing integrated business and litigation strategies to a diverse base of industry-leading clients. The firm was founded in 1986 with one guiding vision: Empower clients with the fresh insight, unique perspective and strategic legal counsel necessary to achieve and maintain a competitive edge.
This is a great way to network and share your product or service with Oklahoma attorneys. For more information on becoming a sponsor for this year's Midyear Conference, contact Gigi McCormick by email or by phone at 405-416-7028.
View the Applicant List for the July 2026 Bar Exam
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 July 28-29.
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
Why We’re Talking About AI at the Midyear Conference
By OBA Management Assistance Program Director Julie Bays
Lawyers who are exploring generative AI may feel like they finally learned what a “prompt” is, only to hear that prompts are being replaced by skills, agents, workflows, Gems, custom GPTs, Projects and Copilots.
That is a lot to keep up with.
Catherine Sanders Reach, director of the North Carolina Bar Association Center for Practice Management, recently wrote a helpful article titled “Prompts are Dead, Long Live Prompts.” Her point is not that prompts are useless. Instead, she explains that prompts are still useful for one-time tasks, but AI tools are increasingly moving toward reusable instructions, repeatable processes and agent-style tools that can carry out more complex work.
That distinction matters for lawyers.
A prompt may help you summarize a transcript, draft a first version of a client email or brainstorm issues in a document. But when a lawyer or law firm performs the same task repeatedly – such as reviewing a certain kind of contract, preparing an intake follow-up or organizing documents – a saved instruction, skill or workflow may produce more consistent results. Ms. Reach also notes that agents and workflows can be powerful, but they raise important questions about supervision, confidentiality, access controls and verification.
This is exactly why basic AI education for lawyers is so important right now. The terminology is changing quickly, and various products use different names for similar concepts. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Microsoft 365 Copilot may each describe these features differently. Legal-specific products may use still another vocabulary. Lawyers do not need to memorize every product label, but they do need to understand the basic concepts well enough to make sound decisions.
At the OBA Midyear Conference, I will be teaching “AI Tools for Today’s Lawyer: A Beginner’s Guide” on Thursday, June 18, at 1 p.m. The session is designed for lawyers who want a practical starting point, including what today’s AI tools can do, what the common terminology means and how to begin thinking about where these tools might fit into a legal workflow.
AI can assist with drafting, summarizing, organizing information and identifying patterns. But legal judgment, client confidentiality, verification and professional supervision remain the lawyer’s responsibility. Understanding the difference between a prompt, a reusable skill, an agent and a workflow helps lawyers make better choices about when to use these tools and when to slow down.
The goal is not to chase every new AI term or product. The goal is to understand enough to ask better questions, select better tools and protect clients while improving the quality and efficiency of legal services.
If you attend the OBA Midyear Conference, this beginner-focused AI session will help build a foundation for understanding the rapidly changing AI landscape and considering how these tools may fit into your practice.
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.