Volume 2 No. 39 | Sept. 28, 2022

Courts

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.

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Women in Law Conference is This Week!

This week's Women in Law Conference features an excellent lineup of speakers, including Lilly Ledbetter, in whose name the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was passed in 2009. Attendees will also hear from a panel of Oklahoma judges, as well as Dean Katheleen Guzman, OU College of Law; Professor Sarah Cravens, TU College of Law; and attorneys Rhiannon Baker, Stacy Acord and Katherine Mazaheri. This year's Mona Salyer Lambird Spotlight Award winners will be recognized during the event luncheon. Attendees will receive six credit hours, including one hour of ethics, on a variety of topics of interest to all Oklahoma lawyers. Register online now or contact Renee Montgomery to purchase additional luncheon tickets.

"It’s no secret: For our members, online learning has become the preferred method for satisfying your MCLE requirements. Demand for virtual and remote learning was on the rise even before the COVID-19 pandemic erupted over two years ago. We recognize that many of our members prefer a digital interface even when in-person learning sessions are available. That means to best serve our members, we need to offer the best online experience available. We believe WebCredenza is the solution we have been looking for, and it went live for our members on Aug. 1."

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The September Oklahoma Bar Journal features several articles reflecting the Education theme. Flip through the pages online in the interactive digital edition.

Hayley Jones authored the article "Oh Snap!: Tinkering with Student Speech Restrictions in Mahanoy v. B.L.":

"On June 23, 2021, the United States Supreme Court released its decision in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., the first student speech case decided by the court in almost 15 years. At issue was whether the Mahanoy School District had violated the First Amendment rights of a student by suspending her from the cheerleading squad after she posted a profanity-laden message to her Snapchat account expressing her displeasure at not making the varsity cheerleading team. A disgruntled student venting on social media is a near-daily occurrence faced by our country’s public schools, so some may wonder why the court chose to take up Mahanoy when it has declined to review numerous other student speech cases in recent years."

Eric D. Wade and Adam T. Heavin authored the article "I.T.K. v. Mounds Public Schools: Interpreting the GTCA Notice Requirement":

"In Oklahoma, school districts are political subdivisions of the state. Any attorney who has worked for or against the state of Oklahoma or a political subdivision is likely familiar with the Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act (GTCA). That same attorney would likely tell you that compliance with the provisions of the GTCA is not always straightforward as there is a myriad of procedural steps a plaintiff must maneuver through before filing a lawsuit sounding in tort against a political subdivision in district court. Unfortunately, the case law construing the GTCA sometimes leaves attorneys with more questions than answers. This article will focus primarily on the opinion of the Oklahoma Supreme Court in I.T.K. v. Mounds Public Schools, which interpreted a seemingly unambiguous provision of the GTCA and came to an unexpected conclusion and two opinions that have since been handed down by other courts that relied on Mounds."

Notice of Budget Hearing

Pursuant to Article VII, Section 1 of the Rules Creating and Controlling the Oklahoma Bar Association, Brian T. Hermanson, president-elect and Budget Committee chairperson, has set a public hearing on the 2023 Oklahoma Bar Association budget for 4 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 13, at the Oklahoma Bar Center, 1901 N. Lincoln Blvd., in Oklahoma City. Budget details are available online. Click here to view.

The purpose of the OBA is to engage in those activities enumerated in the Rules Creating and Controlling the Oklahoma Bar Association (the “Rules”) and the OBA Bylaws (the “Bylaws”). The expenditure of funds by the OBA is limited both as set forth in the Rules and Bylaws and by OBA policy in compliance with Keller v. State Bar of California, 496 U.S. 1 (1990). If any member feels that any actual or proposed expenditure is not within such purposes of, or limitations on the OBA, then such member may object by following the procedures set forth at https://www.okbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/OBA_KellerPolicy.pdf

In accordance with the Keller policy, an independent auditor will review and certify the "opt out" amount for legislative activity. That will be reflected on the annual dues statement, and the certification and pro rata calculation will be listed at MyOKBar prior to the budget hearing.

Featured CLE

By Jim Calloway, OBA Management Assistance Program Director

The September 2022 issue of Law Practice Today is a finance-themed issue. Among the seven features are "Fundamentals of Accounting for Lawyers," "Making it Rain," "Eight Ethical Financial Mistakes Lawyers Make" and "How to Value, Sell & Purchase a Law Practice."

The ABA Law Practice Today webzine is available to anyone, whether or not you are an ABA member. You may subscribe to receive notifications of each new issue by email on the website.

The Oklahoma Bar Journal is a publication of the Oklahoma Bar Association. All rights reserved. Copyright© 2022 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.