The Oklahoma Bar Journal September 2025

B ench & B ar B riefs

ON THE MOVE Scott Thompson has joined the Oklahoma Bankers Association as general counsel and senior vice president. He has nearly 30 years of legal and executive experience in banking, business law and governmental relations. Prior to joining the association, he served for nine years as general counsel for SpiritBank. Mr. Thompson’s career also includes private prac tice representing businesses and regulated industries and work ing in governmental relations in Washington, D.C. He is also a member of the F&M Bank Board of Directors. He received his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School. director of client experience. In this position, she will transform the way clients interact with the firm. She has practiced in the areas of civil litigation, product liability, probate and estate plan ning, and she has most recently led customer experience strat egy at a national online clothing retailer. Ms. Sharp received her J.D. cum laude from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. She is also licensed to practice in California. Matthew Felty has joined the Oklahoma City law firm of Ryan Whaley as a director. He has com plex litigation experience in state and federal courts nationwide, representing both companies and individuals across a variety of practice areas, including oil and gas, manufacturers’ products Hayley Sharp has joined Helton Law Firm in Tulsa as its inaugural

coverage disputes arising under personal and commercial insur ance policies. Additionally, she devotes a portion of her practice to reviewing and analyzing insur ance policies, preparing coverage opinions and representing clients in complex business disputes. She previously worked as a litigation associate at several Tulsa-based firms, representing clients in matters involving insurance law and litigation, personal injury dis putes, medical malpractice litiga tion and business and commercial disputes. Ms. Lock received her J.D. with highest honors from the TU College of Law in 2018. Tyler E. Ames has rejoined McAfee & Taft as an associate after serving as a federal law clerk to Chief Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. His litigation practice includes first-party insurance disputes, complex business dis putes, product liability defense, class actions, construction dis putes, personal injury defense and professional negligence. He also devotes a significant portion of his practice to representing employ ers and management in disputes arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Americans with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, National Labor Relations Act and other federal and state laws gov erning employers. He originally joined the law firm in 2021 after beginning his legal career as an

liability, insurance coverage, cata strophic personal injury, complex commercial disputes, aviation disputes and engineering and construction litigation. Mr. Felty received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 2012. Heath W. Garwood has joined the Oklahoma City law firm of Ryan Whaley as an associate. He is a trial lawyer with a practice primarily focused on complex civil litigation. His litigation experience encom passes a variety of practice areas, specifically energy, construction, complex commercial disputes, real property disputes and catastrophic personal injury/wrongful death. In addition, Mr. Garwood represents both individuals and entities with transactional and general counsel services within the oil and gas industry. The transactional portion of his energy practice includes negotiating oil and gas leases, assisting with title curative docu ments and negotiating and drafting industry-specific agreements. Mr. Garwood attended the OU College of Law. Vanessa L. Lock has joined McAfee & Taft as of counsel in the Insurance Coverage and Extra-Contractual Litigation Practice Group. She is a research and writing lawyer whose state and federal civil litigation practice is focused on the representation of national insurance carriers in lawsuits alleging bad faith, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligent underwrit ing and violations of consumer protection laws, as well as in

98 | SEPTEMBER 2025

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL