Vol. 5 No. 36 | Sept. 3, 2025
Courts
No published opinions this week.
No published opinions this week.
- 2025 OK CIV APP 31: JOSEPH ZALAR, JR. v. JZEE PROPERTIES, LLC, 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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The September issue of the Oklahoma Bar Journal is available online now! This issue focuses on torts, featuring articles on personal injuries, the Governmental Tort Claims Act, medical malpractice, emotional distress and more. The September issue also features the 2025 Mona Salyer Lambird Spotlight Award Winners, along with application information for the 2026 OBA Leadership Academy. You'll also find details about the upcoming Annual Meeting, 2026 Board of Governors vacancies, YLD leadership elections and more!
FEATURES
Beyond the Injury: Identifying Employment Cases in Personal Injury and Workers’ Compensation Law
By Patricia A. Podolec
The Punitive Paradox: Scope of Employment, Punitive Damages and the Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act
By Pete G. Serrata III
A Century of Tort Law Related to Emotional Distress Claims in Oklahoma
By Kindra N. Dotson
Property Owners Beware! ‘Not My Dog’ Defense Loses Its Bite
By Keith F. Givens
Diagnosing Discovery: A Primer on Discovery in Medical Malpractice Cases
By S. Shea Bracken
PLUS
Is Your Law Firm Compliant With Title III of the Americans With Disabilities Act?
By Angie Barker
"'I came into this room for a reason' is a comment we have all made to ourselves from time to time (go ahead, admit it; you know you have!). You leave one room on a mission and find yourself in another room with no clue about the original mission – until you go back to your starting point and the memory of the mission is triggered, or you still cannot remember why. And no, this is not a sign that your faculties are failing. According to a 2011 University of Notre Dame study, 'Walking Through Doorways Causes Forgetting,' it is the act of walking through the doorway into a different venue that 'purges' our memory, as if our brain interprets the change of venue as completion of an event, rendering the old memory irrelevant. At least that is the conclusion of that study."
The Oklahoma Bar Association welcomes Michael Horn, a lawyer and educator in Jenks, into his new role as coordinator for the Oklahoma High School Mock Trial Program. Mr. Horn, a longtime mock trial team coach, was recently hired to serve in this role. He is taking over for program coordinator Judy Spencer, who retired at the end of this spring's mock trial season after 20 years of service.
A 2006 graduate of the TU College of Law, Mr. Horn is an attorney with a general practice in the Tulsa area. He has served as a teacher and coach for Jenks Public Schools since 1991, instructing high school classes including AP capstone and AP comparative government and politics. He began serving as the Jenks mock trial team coach in 2005 and has coached the team through several final rounds, including winning the state championship this year and placing sixth at the national competition. He also coaches the high school's academic team and serves as the gifted and talented education coordinator for Jenks Public Schools.
The High School Mock Trial Program involves students in grades 9-12 modeling the roles of attorneys, plaintiffs and defendants. They actively prepare and present their cases under the direct supervision of teacher coaches and attorney advisors. Although these are mock trials, they are heard by real judges in a courtroom setting, and student performance is evaluated by a panel of lawyers.
Registration is now open for the 2025 OBA Women in Law Conference and Mona Salyer Lambird Spotlight Awards Luncheon. The conference will be held Friday, Sept. 19, at the Petroleum Club of Oklahoma City. This year’s special guest is artist DG Smalling, who will present "Operation Lady Justice" and serve as keynote speaker during the luncheon, where the 2025 Mona Salyer Lambird Spotlight Award recipients will be honored. This year's agenda features sessions on mentoring, employment law, ethics and campaign finance law. The judicial panel will feature the perspectives of a variety of judges from state and federal courts.
Mark your calendars for this year's OBA Annual Meeting, Nov. 6-7 at the Sheraton Oklahoma City Downtown Hotel. This year's meeting will focus on bar business, including the election of officers and members of the Board of Governors. The deadline for submitting nominating petitions for 2026 OBA leadership is Sept. 8.
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.
Featured CLE
By OBA Management Assistance Program Director Julie Bays
Our members receive free access to vLex Fastcase (available by logging in to your MyOKBar account), a legal research tool that includes cases, statutes, regulations and more. You can search by keyword, citation or natural language, and the platform’s new Cert citator helps you quickly confirm whether a case is still good law. Limited AI-generated summaries are also available as part of the member benefit.
After logging in, the search bar appears at the very top of the page. Refer to the image above. To change jurisdiction, select the option located to the right of the search bar. New users often encounter issues with the two buttons at the top labeled "Vincent" and "Upgrade." Vincent is an AI tool designed to analyze documents and generate summaries; however, it is not included as a free benefit for members. Clicking "Vincent" or "Upgrade" takes you to a subscription sales page, so ignore these buttons if you don't want to make a purchase. They're the ones marked with the red box.
Now, for those who greet every new interface with suspicion (and maybe a few choice words), here’s the secret: You can still go back to Fastcase 7. Just click the little person icon next to the "Upgrade" button, scroll down and select "Return to Fastcase 7."
If you ever need help or run into a tech hiccup, just give me a call at 405-416-7031 or send an email to julieb@okbar.org. I’m here to help lawyers stay competent with technology, so you can focus on your practice without getting bogged down by buttons and screens.
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.