The Oklahoma Bar Journal September 2024

F rom the P resident

We attorneys are more than our resumes, and I am very grateful for Laura’s nonprofessional life. As a son, she has given me (and my sister and all her grandchildren) unwavering love and support. She has picked me up at my weakest moments. She has shown me that listening and speaking softly is often more powerful and persuasive than being loud and boisterous. While she has run a successful business, she has always given back to the causes she believes in and served on several nonprofit boards. Strength is not a masculine quality. Laura showed strength to persevere and thrive in the male-dominated legal and banking fields. She showed strength to fight off cancer while barely missing a day of work. She showed strength to stand up against things she believed to be wrong. Thank you to all the women in law. You make a difference. And a special thank you to my mother.

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Laura has also contributed to the legal community. She was an adjunct professor who taught banking law at both the OU College of Law and the OCU School of Law. She helped found and chaired the OBA Financial Law Section and then helped merge it with the Commercial Law Section. She has published numer ous articles in many periodicals. Her career has taken her from courtrooms (having argued before the Oklahoma Supreme Court) to classrooms to boardrooms to an invitation to the White House. Laura’s career is one that any child would be proud of. I had the good fortune to practice with both of my parents for nine years before becoming general counsel for The Bankers Bank. To say she has influenced my legal career is an understatement.

Thank you to all the women in law. You make a difference.

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SEPTEMBER 2024 | 97

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL