The Oklahoma Bar Journal August 2022

J ack W. Lawter of Oklahoma City died May 18. He was born March 18, 1928, in Frederick. Mr. Lawter served in the U.S. Navy from 1946 to 1948 and as a first lieutenant and finance officer in the U.S. Army in Korea from 1951 to 1953. He also served in the Oklahoma National Guard from 1955 to 1958 as a captain in the Judge Advocate General Corp. He received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1955. Early in his legal career, he was the assistant Oklahoma insurance commissioner and legal counsel for the insurance commissioner. He also served as president of Commonwealth Life Insurance Co., president and chairman of Cattlemen’s Life Insurance Co., director of Union Mutual Insurance Co. and two terms as president of the Oklahoma Association of Life Insurance Companies. He was active in the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and served as presi dent of the Southwest American Livestock Foundation. A ntony Cole Link of Duncan died May 3. He was born Aug. 29, 1947, in Chickasha. Mr. Link received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1973 and had a distinguished 47-year legal career. In 2011, his son joined his legal practice, Link & Link Law. P aul V. McGivern Jr. of Tulsa died June 12. He was born Oct. 23, 1930, in Tulsa. After graduating from high school, Mr. McGivern enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, serving at Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean during the Korean War. He received his J.D. from the TU College of Law in 1961 and built a prestigious law firm focused on workers’ compensation and insur ance defense. Memorial contri butions may be made to Catholic

Supreme Court, five federal courts of appeals, several federal and state trial courts and an interna tional tribunal at The Hague. He also served as lead plaintiff coun sel in Occidental v. Chevron , which was settled for a judgment of $775 million, the largest awarded in Oklahoma history. In 2002, Mr. Pierson was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. G loria E. Trout Preston of Norman died May 11. She was born July 6, 1952, in Ponca City. Ms. Preston received her J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1989 and had a private practice in Oklahoma City for many years. Memorial con tributions may be made to Second He was born April 18, 1960. Mr. Reynolds graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in art and held a variety of jobs, including pizza cook, private security guard, box manufacturer, long-distance trucker, night club manager, mortician’s assistant and salmon canner in Alaska. He received his J.D. from the OCU School of Law in 2002 and practiced criminal defense and bankruptcy law until his death. He also served six years as a communications specialist in the Oklahoma National Guard. Memorial contributions may be made to the Yukon Historical Society or Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma. G abriel Rivera of Moore died June 10. He was born May 3, 1957, in Fort Polk South, Louisiana. As part of a U.S. Army family, he grew up all over the world, includ ing in Panama, Okinawa Island and Germany. After graduating from Moore High School, he earned his Chance Animal Sanctuary. E ric Craig Reynolds of Oklahoma City died June 10.

Charities of Eastern Oklahoma or Family & Children’s Services. J erry F. Muskrat of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, died Feb. 27. He was born Oct. 2, 1941, in Evanston, Illinois. Mr. Muskrat received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1972. He served as an associate law professor at the OU College of Law before accepting an appoint ment as an appeals judge for the Department of the Interior Board of Indian Appeals. He later served as an administrative law judge in San Diego until his retirement. He was a member of the First Family of the Cherokee Nation and was very active in Native American affairs throughout his career. Mr. Muskrat also served as an officer in the U.S. Army, assigned to the staff of the commanding general in Fort Sill. Memorial contributions may be made to Americans for Indian Opportunities. W. DeVier Pierson Jr. of Chevy Chase, Maryland, died April 12. He was born Aug. 12, 1931, in Pawhuska. After graduat ing from OU, he served in Korea for two years. Mr. Pierson received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1957 and started a litiga tion practice in Oklahoma City. In 1965, he moved to Washington, D.C., and became chief counsel to a special Senate-House commit tee to improve the functioning of Congress. In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Mr. Pierson as special counsel to the president and counselor of the White House, where he partici pated in the implementation of the Great Society and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He then spent more than 40 years practicing at the Washington law firm of Pierson Semmes & Bemis. He was lead counsel in matters before the U.S.

80 | AUGUST 2022

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL