OADC President's Blog

OADC MEMBER CALL TO ACTION

Your Legislative Committee has been watching SJR 34 as the 2024 Oklahoma Legislative Session has progressed. This provision would eliminate the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) and replace it with a system modeled on the one provided for in Article III of the United States Constitution. The OADC has taken a position in opposition to the proposed change.

The House recently passed SJR 34 out of Committee with substituted language.  The full text of the provision may be found at www.oklegislature.gov by clicking on “basic bill search” then typing in “SJR34.”  On the top menu of that screen click on the tab labelled “Versions” and select the hyperlink to “House Committee Substitute for Senate Bill.”

Your OADC Legislative Committee requests that each member take a few minutes out of your day today to telephone your House Representative and express your opposition to SJR 34.  Phone calls are usually more effective than emails. Let them know you are their constituent and that you oppose SJR 34. This is one of the rare instances where the OAJ and OADC are working together in opposition of legislation and every voice counts!

For those who are interested and available, the OAJ is planning a group effort to lobby members of the House against SJR 34 at the Capitol tomorrow, the morning of April 11, 2024.  The OADC membership has been invited to join them in their efforts. 

Hello fellow OADC members~  I wanted to send out a quick thank you to everyone who attended the Winter Meeting last month at the Oklahoma City Omni!  I appreciate you all braving the multitude of mini-cheerleaders and Thunder fans that made negotiating parking and the lobby a bit of an adventure.  I also appreciate those of you who stayed after and gave me feedback and ideas. I hope that you all enjoyed the Meeting, and will continue dialogue with me (and Grant) as we move through this year. As you know, we sent out an email survey asking for committee interests, and thank you to those that responded.  We do still have a need for committee members for Governance, Communications, Long Range Planning, Fundraising/Sponsorships and Mentorships, so if you have an interest in any of these, we would appreciate your assistance on a committee.    Additionally, we will be sending out more surveys over the next few weeks, and your feedback is crucial to our organization providing you value for your membership fee. If you’d prefer to discuss any of the survey topics in person, please do feel free to contact me by phone at 405.837.4239 or direct email at reign.karpe.dqxp@statefarm.com.  Finally, please mark your calendars now for Summer Meeting at the very cool Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder (https://www.hiltonbuffalothunder.com) June 20 – 23.  Very shortly we will be unveiling an opportunity for you to attend without having to pay for registration! A true value indeed!   Thank you for your collaboration in making our organization remarkable!   Reign

Dear OADC Members,

I am very pleased to announce that House Bill 3375, the “OADC Bill”, has been signed into law by Governor Fallin!  This is an amendment to 12 O.S. 3226 and will become effective on November 1, 2014.  You can find the bill under the members tab - members only content.

Many thanks to our lobbyists, Brett Robinson and Dennis Adkins, and to the OADC Legislative Committee for all of their hard work on this.

We will continue to monitor several other pieces of legislation and will update you all on significant developments.

Jennifer Annis

OADC President

 

OADC started 2014 with the winter meeting on January 24th at the historic Mayo Hotel in Tulsa. Turn out was excellent with 94 in attendance. Angela Ailles-Bahm and Carrie Palmer were both awarded the Distinguished Service Award. A special thanks goes to Jeromy Brown, our DRI Representative, who made a video presentation on the importance of keeping our courts fair and free in the face of legislative attempts to politicize the judiciary across the country. Oklahoma has not been immune to this so-called judicial reform.

One benefit of OADC membership is the fruit of the efforts of our Legislative Committee, chaired by Mike Carter, and our lobbyists, Brett Robinson and Dennis Adkins of Capital City Associates. They have been very busy the first quarter of 2014 drafting, monitoring, and communicating with legislators about several pieces of proposed legislation. Their focus has included judicial reform, the offer to confess statutes, and the "OADC Bill", which was drafted by Angela Ailles-Bahm. The "OADC Bill" amends 12 O.S. § 3226 by modifying general provisions governing discovery, relating specifically to initial disclosures and obtaining authorizations for release of records. It has passed both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees and is up for vote on the Senate floor soon. The current version of the "OADC Bill" is posted on our website at www.oadc.org.

Another benefit of OADC membership is the opportunity to attend the annual summer meeting. This year we will return to the Four Seasons Resort and Club in Las Colinas, Texas on June 19th and 20th.

OADC was founded nearly fifty years ago in Oklahoma City by a small group of civil litigation defense lawyers who were interested in pioneering an organization dedicated to providing a platform for association and communication to exchange ideas, information and litigation techniques. Those core ideals remain in place today. Although the practice of law has changed dramatically since the early 1960’s, the need to collaborate with and to provide support to others in the defense bar remains the same.

OADC leadership is very interested in hearing from the membership on ways that the organization can better serve and support your practice. Please contact any of the Board of Directors with suggestions or comments. You can find your board members listed on our newly designed website.

I appreciate the opportunity to serve as your President and look forward to a great 2014.

Jennifer Annis