The Oklahoma Bar Journal March 2024

BRIAN CANDELARIA, NORMAN

MELISSA BROOKS, OKLAHOMA CITY

Brian Candelaria worked

Melissa Brooks is the director of legal information and engage ment at the Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation. Ms. Brooks is a certified Legal First Aid trainer for the Oklahoma Community Justice Network and is the primary trainer for new and existing community navigators. Legal

for nine years as a legal assistant before going back to school and earning a mas ter’s degree in legal studies from OU. He then attended the OCU School of Law. He was awarded a G. William Rice Memorial Scholarship by the OBA Indian Law Section and has been awarded multiple Sovereignty Symposium writing awards. A member of the OBA and several tribal bar associ ations since April 2020, Mr. Candelaria works as a staff attorney at Oklahoma Indian Legal Services. He is cur rently the chair of the OBA Access to Justice Committee, vice chair of the OBA Indian Law Section and chair of the Oklahoma Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. Mr. Candelaria has embraced the organiza tional mission of OILS to serve the legal needs of low- income enrolled tribe members residing in Oklahoma. He happily lives in Norman with his wife, Kathryn.

First Aid is a training program for frontline staff at com munity-facing organizations, which certifies caseworkers, screeners and other staff as legal community navigators. As certified community navigators, participants are able to competently recognize legal issues, refer clients to legal resources and advocate for their interests in the legal system. She is a former Equal Justice Works attorney and staff attorney at Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, where she served low-income and senior clients with consumer (Chapter 7 bankruptcy), estate planning, guardianship, family and other elder law-related issues for five years. Additionally, she served as the pro bono coordinator for the Oklahoma City office of Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma. In that role, she maintained and developed several access to justice clinics, including wills and trusts clinics, a waiver divorce clinic and a general legal advice clinic and placed pro bono cases with private attorneys. She continues to serve her community pro bono as an administrator and volunteer for the Oklahoma County Guardianship Clinic, an active volunteer attor ney for the Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City Expungement Expo program and a pro bono attorney for Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma. Ms. Brooks earned her J.D. at the OCU School of Law with a certificate in wills, trusts and estates (estate planning) and her undergraduate degree in political science with an emphasis in pre-law. She is an admitted member of the OBA and the Western District of Oklahoma federal bar.

COURTNEY DRISKELL, TULSA Courtney Driskell is a family law attorney with a background serving local children and families in the community. She graduated with highest honors and was in the top 15% of her class at the TU College of Law in 2020. She was also awarded a CALI Award in trial skills.

Ms. Driskell volunteers with CASA as well as Tulsa Lawyers for Children. During law school, she worked as a licensed legal intern in the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office. She also worked in Crimes Against

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL