Spring Conference 2023

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Bio:

Jeff Bryant is the Director of Legal Services and Associate General Counsel for Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group (OMAG) since 2019.  In that position his focus has been in claims management, assisting municipal attorneys and municipal officials with a variety of municipal issues.  He is actively involved in the Oklahoma Association of Municipal Attorneys (OAMA) serving as a Board member since 2019. 

He previously served as City Attorney for the City of Norman for fourteen years, retiring in December of 2018, rounding out a 32-year career with the Norman City Attorney’s office.  His experience includes acting as General Counsel to the City Manager, Mayor, and City Council in a variety of areas including drafting legislation, contract review and management, advising regarding economic development tools including tax increment financing, dealing with labor and collective bargaining issues, tort claim review, supervising legal staff, and representing the City in all areas of litigation in state and federal courts, as well as administrative agencies. 

Jeff is a resident of Norman since 1983, he is active in the Norman Community including Rotary, United Way, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Chamber of Commerce, McKinzie Gardens, and Leadership Norman.  Jeff is also a Leadership Oklahoma graduate and a member of the CrossPointe Church in Norman.  Jeff and his wife Sherry have one daughter who graduated from OU in May of 2021 and three sons all in varying stages of college at OU.  They also have two grandchildren delivered in the same week in July of 2021 and added a grandson in October of 2022, and have another grandson on the way in September of 2023!

Bio:
After receiving his undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice Studies from the University of Tulsa in 1975, Patrick joined the Tulsa Police Department, where he served until October 1983. From 1979 thru 1983 he attended the University of Tulsa College of Law. After being admitted to the Oklahoma Bar in 1983, he left the Police Department to join the Tulsa City Attorney's Office in its Criminal Division. After serving three years as an advocate in Tulsa's Municipal Criminal Court of Record, he has served the City Attorney's Office in the fields of human resources, labor relations, condemnation, environmental law, and telecommunication law. In 1996 Patrick was promoted to manage the City Attorney's Office Criminal Division.

After four years of municipal prosecution, in July 2000, he took over the management of the City Attorney's Real Property-Zoning Division, where he worked until August 2011. In August 2011, Patrick retired from the Tulsa City Attorney's Office to become the City Attorney in Bixby, Oklahoma, where he served until his retirement on October 1, 2017. Patrick then served as a Special Assistant City Attorney for the City of Stillwater and as the City Prosecutor in Jenks, Oklahoma.

In November 2013, Patrick was also appointed an Associate Municipal Judge of the Municipal Criminal Court of the City of Tulsa and he is a past President of the Oklahoma Association of Municipal Attorneys (OAMA). Since August 2018 he has been working for the Tulsa City Council as the City Council Administrator.

Bio:

John Dorman leans on more than three decades of extensive municipal law experience to provide clients with creative solutions to resolve complex issues in a favorable manner.

Prior to joining Spencer Fane, John spent time as City Attorney for the City of Stillwater, Oklahoma, after previous stints as Assistant City Attorney for the cities of Edmond and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and Litigation Division Manager for the City of Tulsa. At Stillwater, he served as the Chief Legal Officer for a community home to Oklahoma State University and managed a municipal department that rendered all legal services, including litigation, for the city council and its subordinate boards, commissions, and quasi-judicial tribunals; city administration; and city-operated public utility, airport, and economic development trusts. This also included being directly responsible for handling complex transactional, real estate, and regulatory matters.

John steered the Stillwater Utilities Authority through the financing, acquisition, and construction of a new state-of-the art municipal electric power generating facility, and the rebuild of a significant portion of the city’s water distribution system. He assisted the Stillwater Regional Airport with several large federally funded construction projects and was one of the principal actors responsible for bringing daily American Airlines passenger service to the city. John created the Stillwater Economic Development Authority and Western Payne County Ambulance Trust, and reformed the Kaw Reservoir Authority, a key component of the north central Oklahoma regions’ water supply. His efforts resolving conflicts with rural electric and rural water entities have produced model cooperative agreements and helped to secure Stillwater’s future growth in the region.

John’s litigation background is equally diverse. At Tulsa, he successfully defended numerous federal civil rights cases involving the Tulsa Police Department. He litigated Title VII and other employment claims. At Stillwater, John won important decisions involving constitutional debt limitation, electric power deregulation, taxpayer (qui tam) lawsuits, election law issues, and tort claim defenses.

During his tenure in Broken Arrow, John served as primary legal advisor to the planning and code enforcement departments, defending zoning appeals and prosecuting condemnation actions in state courts.  He also assisted with Broken Arrow’s annexation efforts in Wagoner County — the region that has accounted for much of that city’s growth over the past decade.

John has served as an adjunct professor of political science at Tulsa Community College and Oklahoma City Community College.

Bio:

Jon was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1959. He was raised on a family dairy farm and beef ranch. Jon attended Oklahoma State University and graduated with a B.S. 1981. He attended the University of Oklahoma College of Law because OSU did not have a law school. He was a member of the Order of the Coif and an Editor of the Law Review and graduated in 1984.

Jon was admitted to practice in Oklahoma in 1984, and is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States District Courts for the Western, Eastern and Northern Districts of Oklahoma, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and District Courts.

Jon is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association and the Canadian County Bar Association, and served as past President of the Canadian County Bar. He has been the City Attorney for the City of Mustang since 2005.

Jon has been married to his wife LaWanda since 1988. They live in Piedmont, Oklahoma, and have two children and two grandchildren. Jon and LaWanda attend the First Baptist Church of Piedmont, where Jon serves as a Deacon and a Trustee.

Bio:

Julie Trout Lombardi was admitted to the bar in 1986 and has practiced in the areas of civil litigation, employment, constitutional and municipal law. She has been the city attorney in Owasso since 2005.

Bio:

David L. Weatherford is a Tulsa attorney with over 30 years of municipal attorney experience.  He is a member of a Tulsa law firm and is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and Tulsa University College of Law. 

He has served as City Attorney for Mannford since 1998 and Sand Springs since 2002, representing the municipalities in a wide range of legal matters. Additionally, he has represented a number of other cities and towns in a limited capacity, primarily dealing with labor relations, rural water litigation, and general liability.  He has contracted with OMAG for on-site elected official training for the past four years, visiting a number of cities throughout the state.

Bio:

Phil has been at OAMIC since 1989 and has served as president and CEO since 1993. He is past-president of the National Association of Bar Related Insurance Companies (NABRICO) and currently serves as secretary of the organization.

He also serves as secretary of the Bar Plan Surety & Fidelity Company, is a board member of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), and is also a member of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS). Phil is an alumnus of the University of Central Oklahoma and is a trustee of the Edmond Economic Development Authority.

Bio:

Tammy grew up in Muskogee and attended college at the University of Tulsa.  She attended law school at the University of Illinois and then practiced law in Colorado for 28 years.  During her last 14 years in Colorado, she was a municipal court judge and then a county court judge.  She moved back home to Oklahoma in 2017.

Since returning home, she has advised various governmental entities, including the cities of Bixby, Owasso, and Broken Arrow.  She is currently an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Stillwater and City Attorney for the City of Perkins.

Bio:

Jami Blocker is an Assistant Municipal Counselor for the City of Oklahoma City and is assigned as the Division Head of the Oklahoma City Airport Trust’s (Airport Trust) legal team. The Airport Trust and the City of Oklahoma City are autonomous, but related entities. The Airport Trust is an Oklahoma public trust that leases, operates, and manages the state of Oklahoma’s largest commercial passenger airport and two general aviation airports for the exclusive benefit of the City of Oklahoma City. 

Jami has been with Oklahoma City for over 29 years and has an extensive litigation background in both criminal and civil matters in municipal, state, and federal courts. Jami has represented Oklahoma City and the Airport Trust in various environmental litigation and administrative agency matters, including both regulatory and voluntary cleanup and enforcement actions. Jami has been exclusively representing the Airport Trust for the last 15 years and currently focuses on aeronautical and non-aeronautical business and real estate development, legislation, oil and gas, and environmental matters, as well as bridging the gap between the Airport Trust, the City, Airport Trust tenants, and other stakeholders, to meet the City and the Airport Trust’s goals and objectives. 

Jami currently serves on the Airport Council International-N.A.’s (ACI-NA’s) Legal Steering Committee with other legal representatives from other small, medium, and large hub airports across the United States.  Through her work on the ACI-NA’s projects, she is a liaison to several national working groups for airport specific environmental concerns, legislative issues, as well as concession and air service development.  Jami has also served on panels to review airport related research projects for the Airport Cooperative Research Program, which is an entity that is sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration and managed by the Transportation Research Board. 

Bio:

Monica Coleman is an Associate General Counsel/Director of Personnel Services at the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group (OMAG).  Prior to joining OMAG in December of 2018, Ms. Coleman served the City of Oklahoma City for over 28 years as an Assistant Municipal Counselor and as the Assistant Personnel Director.  During her tenure with the City of Oklahoma City, Ms. Coleman worked exclusively in the areas of labor and employment.

Ms. Coleman received her Juris Doctorate from Oklahoma City University in 1990, after receiving a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration – Management from Oklahoma State University.  Ms. Coleman is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association and is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Bio:

Ambre Gooch is Associate General Counsel at OMAG.  She joined OMAG in August 2021. Prior to joining OMAG, she was in private practice for 25 years where she defended municipalities and municipal employees around the state in federal and state court.  At OMAG, she provides guidance to municipalities regarding risk coverage and municipal risk issues.

This includes investigating Tort Claims, assigning defense counsel to municipalities when litigation ensues, overseeing that litigation, reviewing potential claims, reviewing personnel/employee  policies, procedures, and handbooks, reviewing law enforcement claims and actions, reviewing potential personnel actions, and addressing issues that arise under the Open Records Act, the Open Meetings Act, and other municipal based statutes. 

Bio:

Rich Brierre is the Executive Director of INCOG, the principal regional planning organization for the Tulsa metropolitan area. INCOG serves some 50 city, town, county, and tribal governments in the Tulsa metropolitan area. INCOG’s broad array of programs include transportation planning, energy and environmental planning, comprehensive planning, housing, community and economic development and aging services.

Mr. Brierre has served as Executive Director of INCOG since 2008.

Mr. Brierre has significant experience in housing, community and economic development and transportation programs and successfully lead recent efforts to secure over $80M dollars in Federal funding through competitive economic development and transportation grant programs. Mr. Brierre is the past chair of the Oklahoma Association of Regional Councils and a member of the Executive Directors Advisory Council of the National Association of Regional Councils.

Mr. Brierre is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and a graduate of the University of Tulsa

Bio:

Bio:

Kimberly Carnley is the City Attorney for the City of Stillwater, Oklahoma. Previously, Carnley served as the Assistant City Attorney in Stillwater since 2016. Prior to joining the City of Stillwater, she worked at the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office as an Assistant Attorney General and at the Oklahoma Tax Commission as an Assistant General Counsel.

Carnley received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Kansas in 2007 and her Juris Doctorate from Oklahoma City University School of Law in 2013.

Bio:

Orval Jones graduated from the OU College of Law in 1984 and has been an Assistant Municipal Counselor for the City of Oklahoma City since 1999. 

He was previously in private practice in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, formerly an assistant attorney general in Missouri, and most recently the general counsel for the Oklahoma Insurance Department.  He is a member of the OBA Evidence and Civil Procedure Committee.

Bio:

Ms. Jayne is a proud native Oklahoman who was born in Oklahoma City to Okies who were born and raised here. (Her grandfather came to Oklahoma with his parents in the run.) Ms. Jayne was raised in Southern California.

She graduated from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles and fled California after graduation. Since returning to her roots and her senses, Ms. Jayne worked at Legal Aid of Western Oklahoma for several years and at the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in Oklahoma City since September 2001.

While working at DEQ, Ms. Jayne has done enforcement for all the divisions in the agency: Air, Water, Land, Environment Complaints and Local Services and the Lab.

Bio:

Eric’s client-centric approach to litigation makes his clients’ interests a focal point of each case.  “AV-Preeminent” litigation skills and a personality to match have resulted in long-standing client relationships.  Eric has been in practice for over 30 years, including serving as Vice President of Claims at Oklahoma Attorneys Mutual Insurance Company. His 360° experience in insurance defense gives his clients the benefit of both his perspective and experience.  

He offers clients a wealth of know-how, from pre-suit disputes through all phases of litigation, including state, tribal, and federal trials, as well as arbitrations and alternative dispute resolution. 

His practice includes employment, civil rights, professional liability, construction, coverage questions, school law, municipal, and personal injury.   His tenure as an insurance company executive also underscores his attention to efficient and effective management of resources. 

Eric married Erin, his college sweetheart, and together they have two children.  Basically a runner with an intense lawyering habit, you’ll frequently find him on the road somewhere. He enjoys traveling, spending time with his family, and outdoor activities.  He is involved in community activities and is an active member of Tulsa’s First Presbyterian Church. 

Bar Admissions

• Oklahoma, 1990

Professional Involvement - Memberships

• American Bar Association

• Defense Research Institute 

• Tulsa and Oklahoma County Bar Associations

• Oklahoma Bar Association

Court Admissions

• All Oklahoma District Courts

• Oklahoma Supreme Court

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth and Eighth Circuits

• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma

• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma

• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma

• U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas

• Cherokee Nation Bar Association

• Mvskogee (Creek) Nation Bar Association

• Choctaw Nation Tribal Court

• U.S. Supreme Court

Honors and Awards

Martindale-Hubbell Rating – AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated

Bio:

Jim Priest is a recovering attorney, author, speaker, executive coach, and “people developer,” He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma and brings a long-standing commitment to helping vulnerable and disadvantaged people.  A trial lawyer for over 34 years, Jim represented many municipalities across Oklahoma in police misconduct and employee related issues and trials.  He has also consulted with city and town officials on sensitive and politically charged investigations.  He worked extensively for many years with the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group on litigation matters.

Jim has written and spoken on the topic of Ethics in a wide variety of settings, serving as a founding board member of the Oklahoma Business Ethics Consortium and received the organization’s highest honor, the Executive Pilot Award.  His most recent presentation to OK Ethics, Leadership is An Inside Job, can be viewed here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6LPpRO3JV8

Jim likes to read, write, run, hike, and serves on several civic boards in his spare time. He’s written four books including his latest release titled “Leadership is an Inside Job” about the importance of character in leadership. 

Jim is married to his wife of 45 years Diane. They have two adult children, one namesake grandson named James and he is owned by two dogs, one called Oakley and one called Jeter named after retired Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.

Bio:

Thomas Le Blanc is partner with the Tulsa law firm of Best & Sharp. A graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law, Thomas has been licensed to practice in Oklahoma since 1991. He is admitted to practice in all State and Federal District Courts throughout Oklahoma, as well as the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Tulsa County Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, and the Oklahoma Association of Defense Counsel.

Thomas’s practice includes representing municipalities and counties in all areas of civil litigation in state and federal court, including tort claims, employment cases, law enforcement cases and other civil rights cases.

Bio:

Justice Dustin P. Rowe, District 2. Rowe is a lifelong resident of Tishomingo and a graduate of Tishomingo high school. At the age of 18, while still a senior in high school, he won election to the Tishomingo city council where he served two terms as the youngest mayor in the state. Rowe earned his B.A. with honors from East Central University and his J.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law where his graduating class awarded him the professional responsibility award and the faculty awarded him the Joseph Rarick award. He was named a Lee B. Thompson scholar while at O.U. He is an alumnus of the National Judicial College in Reno, NV, where he serves on the faculty. He also serves as adjunct faculty for Oklahoma City University School of Law and on the Board of Visitors for the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

Rowe practiced law in Tishomingo from 2001 to 2019, where he served as Tishomingo city attorney for 18 years. He served as special judge of the Chickasaw Nation District Court from 2005-2011 and as district judge of the Chickasaw Nation District Court from 2011-2019. Rowe was appointed to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma by Governor J. Kevin Stitt on November 20, 2019. He assumed office on December 20, 2019. Justice Rowe was retained by voters on November 8, 2022 and was elected as Vice-Chief Justice for 2023-2024.

Rowe is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation. He and his wife are the proud parents of two children. Rowe can be reached at Oklahoma Judicial Center, 2100 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73105 or dustin.rowe@oscn.net.

Bio:

Larry R. Curtis currently serves as the Director of Community Development for the City of Bartlesville. He received his Master of Science Degree in Architectural Urban Studies from the University of Oklahoma in May of 2012. Previously, Larry graduated from The University of Tulsa College of Arts and Science with a Bachelor of Arts in Arts Management.

Larry has served over ten years in the public sector in various roles including  Community Development Director for the City of Broken Arrow, Planning Commission Director for Rogers County Oklahoma and serving on the Board of Directors for the Indian Nation Council of Governments. Larry is on the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Planning Association. Larry is also a member of the Oklahoma Floodplain Managers Association and a Certified Floodplain Manager.

Bio:

Jeff Sabin is a partner in the firm and advises clients on zoning and land use, community development program compliance, municipal law, and general real estate and economic development issues. He works with public and private sector clients to guide projects through community and governmental approval processes and assists clients in assessing the impacts of redevelopment projects and proposals.

Jeff has significant experience interpreting municipal land use regulations, guiding clients through community development planning efforts, analyzing financial feasibility and performance projections, and obtaining state funding commitments from various state incentive programs. Relevant experience includes the drafting and adoption of numerous development-related ordinances and agreements, preparing applications under the Oklahoma Local Development and Enterprise Zone Incentive Leverage Act, and facilitating public engagement processes. Recent projects include helping the City of Oklahoma City meet new statutory requirements for assessing the economic impacts of its recent amendments to the Downtown/MAPS Economic Development Project Plan, serving as City Attorney for The City of The Village, and assisting as with the City of Shawnee’s Unified Development Code project. Prior to joining the firm as a law clerk in 2012, Jeff worked as a city planner in Hutto, Texas, a suburb of Austin, where he worked on award-winning Old Town Master Plan and Unified Development Code projects.

Jeff received his Juris Doctorate from Oklahoma City University School of Law, and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma. While in law school, Jeff was a Dean’s Scholar, received the Excellence in Real Property Law Award from the Oklahoma City Real Property Lawyers Association, and the Technical Editing Award from the Oklahoma City University Law Review. Jeff is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association, American Bar Association, the American Planning Association, the Congress for the New Urbanism, and the Urban Land Institute.

Bio:

Margaret McMorrow-Love graduated magna cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa from Trinity Washington University with a B.A. degree in History and received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Oklahoma College of Law where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and an Editor of the Oklahoma Law Review.  She practiced with the law firm of Fellers, Snider, Blankenship, Bailey, and Tippens, where she was a partner, until January of 1994, when she opened her own law practice in Oklahoma City.   

Mrs. Love engages in civil litigation, including the defense of constitutional claims, civil rights actions, wrongful termination cases, and employment claims.  She represents numerous governmental entities related to a wide variety of matters, including collective bargaining, arbitration proceedings, and municipal contracts.