The Oklahoma Bar Journal September 2025

F rom the P resident

encourage new attorneys to con sider locating their practices in these more rural areas. I sincerely solicit your suggestions regarding solutions for Oklahoma’s legal deserts. Please spread the word that these discussions are in no way intended to attack or disparage older lawyers. To the contrary, but for the continuing practice of our older members, Oklahoma would already be experiencing an even greater deficiency in access to jus tice. You may, confidentially if you so desire, provide any comments or thoughts you may have on these topics to me, Vice President Richard White, Executive Director Johnson or any of the members of the Board of Governors. These dis cussions are more necessary than at any time in our history and seek only the best for all concerned. As always, thank you for your service to the public and our hon orable profession! ENDNOTE 1. The project's resulting work, Planning Ahead Guide: Attorney Transition Planning in the Event of Death or Incapacity , is available for download on the OBA website at https://bit.ly/4oOk3kO.

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Working Group Project. The proj ect was intended to address the need for all OBA members to have a transition plan in place to protect their clients in the event of inca pacity, death or disappearance. 1 However, there is no similar proj ect to address the need for replac ing our aging member population. As Executive Director Janet Johnson mentioned in “My Midyear Reflection,” her message in the August 2025 issue of the bar journal, one of my primary con cerns this year has been access to justice. If you have not done so, please review “Bridging the Justice Gap” by Oklahoma Bar Foundation Executive Director Renee DeMoss, also in the August 2025 issue. The shrinking number of members can only exacerbate the current “justice gap.” I have focused particularly on the “legal deserts” that exist in many of Oklahoma’s lower-population counties. Fourteen of Oklahoma’s counties have six or fewer attor neys. My initial efforts have been to reach out to local leaders in those 14 county seats to open discussions about how we can

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL