The Oklahoma Bar Journal June 2024

JOE STAMPER DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD Andrew M. Coats, Oklahoma City Andrew M. Coats has greatly impacted the legal community, throughout his life. He has tirelessly served his bar association, city, com munity and country. Throughout his career, Mr. Coats has served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, Oklahoma County district attorney, Oklahoma City mayor and direc tor at the Oklahoma City office of Crowe & Dunlevy. He was presi dent of the OBA in 1992, president of the American College of Trial Lawyers from 1996 to 1997, and he was charter Oklahoma presi dent of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He is also active in several pro fessional organizations, where he holds positions such as trustee of the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society, fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and more. Currently, he serves as dean emeritus and professor of law at the OU College of Law and director emeritus of the OU Entrepreneurial Law Center. Under his leadership, the college has experienced a resurgence. Endowed professor ships and scholarships significantly increased. He also presided over the college’s renovation; the OU Board of Regents recognized his leadership by officially naming the building Andrew M. Coats Hall in his honor. He was also inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2005 and received the Professionalism Award from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in 2010. his state and community, as well as

LIBERTY BELL AWARD

Mr. Coats’s continued support and contributions have greatly impacted the legal profession, the OU College of Law, Oklahoma City and the state of Oklahoma. ALMA WILSON AWARD Tsinena Bruno Thompson, Oklahoma City Tsinena Bruno children. Though she primarily practiced in bankruptcy, products liability, federal sector civil rights and employment discrimination, Ms. Thompson has always had a passion for advocating for chil dren. In 1997, she began volun teering for Oklahoma Lawyers for Children, a team of lawyer and citizen volunteers who ensure Oklahoma’s foster care children are protected and have legal representation even when public resources are inadequate. This led to her getting involved in two long jury trials for the organization. Ms. Thompson served as president and CEO of the organi zation from 2008 until 2021. Under her leadership, OLFC took an active role in ensuring that children taken into the custody of the state through the Oklahoma Department of Human Services were assigned an attorney. This ensured that children had legal representa tion regardless of whether there was a lack of public defenders in Oklahoma County. The orga nization serves the interests of hundreds of children at a time and even works with parents to help them comply with court orders to regain custody of their chil dren. Ms. Thompson’s hands-on approach included volunteering, Thompson’s involvement has changed the lives of countless

Oklahoma County Diversion Hub The Oklahoma County Diversion Hub aims to fill gaps in the criminal legal system by promoting crimi nal justice reform, helping people successfully navigate a complex court system and ultimately reduc ing the pressure on the Oklahoma jail and the prison populations. This network connects justice- involved individuals to life-stabilizing resources and services to help them become safe, self-sufficient and stable members of the com munity, reducing their contact with the legal system. This nonprofit offers assistance with navigating housing, employ ment, justice, mental health, sub stance use and public benefits. The programs focus on underlying problems that lead to criminalized behavior, addressing the root causes of community instability. This cost-efficient method helps improve long-term community safety and reduce crime. Through three principal pro grams, as well as several others, the Oklahoma County Diversion Hub allows clients to remove barri ers to unmet needs, access treat ment, obtain needed community resources, achieve self-sufficiency and stability and much more. The work of the organization’s staff has greatly impacted the community and has helped countless individu als change their lives.

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL