ALSO INSIDE: New Judicial Leaders • Taxation Law Section Note Material Changes to Deposition Testimony Volume 92 — No. 1 — January 2021 Meet Your Bar AssociationPresident Mike Mordy contents January 2021 • Vol. 92 • No. 1 THEME: MEET YOUR BAR ASSOCIATION Editor: Carol Manning FEATURES PLUS 6 Ardmore Attorney Mike Mordy to Serve 42 Leadership Changes for State's as 2021 President Highest Courts BY LAUREN RImmER 44 Material Changes to Deposition 12 OBA Officers and Board of Governors Testimony Through Errata Sheet 20 OBA Departments and Services BY T.P. “LYNN” HOWEll 26 Member Benefits 48 Taxation Law Section Note: 2020 Oklahoma Tax Legislation 31 Stay Connected With Your Association BY SHEppARD F. MIERS JR. 32 OBA Sections DEPARTMENTS 4 From the President 50 From the Executive Director 52 Law Practice Tips 56 Ethics & Professional Responsibility 60 Board of Governors Actions PAGE 42 – New Judicial Leaders 62 Oklahoma Bar Foundation News 64 Young Lawyers Division 66 For Your Information 68 Bench and Bar Briefs 70 In Memoriam 74 Editorial Calendar 80 The Back Page PAGES 44 – Deposition Testimony FROM THE PRESIDENT Kudos to Members for Showing Empathy and Compassion By Mike Mordy WANT TO THANK SUSAN SHIELDS for her hard he was calling various attorneys around I work this past year and for “watching our backs.” Susan, the state he knew just to check on their along with Executive Director John Morris Williams, well-being. This encouraged me to extend showed the relevancy of the OBA this past year, especially the same kindness to a couple of other when she and John made sure that Gov. Stitt included attorneys, which I think surprised all of us. the legal profession as being “critical,” in his Amended I also received unsolicited judicial under- Executive Order entered on March 25, 2020. You will standing and accommodations. I received remember Gov. Stitt issued his original Executive Order a call from a judge’s bailiff in June who told No. 2020-7 on March 24, 2020, declaring a state of emer- me I did not need to make a two-hour trip gency because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ordered to appear at a hearing on an unopposed effective midnight of that day that all businesses not motion I filed, but rather I could email a identified as critical, as defined by the U.S. Department of proposed order, which the judge would Homeland Security, be closed until April 16, 2020. enter and return a filed-stamped copy. A The U.S. Department of Homeland Security had not law partner of mine received an email on a declared the practice of law as critical. I witnessed the recent Sunday from a judge who told him hard work of the OBA leadership in making sure we were it was not necessary that he appear for a included in the governor’s Executive Order on March 25, hearing on a motion for a default judgment 2020, as “critical,” and therefore exempt from the closing in a foreclosure action where no objection order. None of us needed to be further subjected to financial had been filed. I was allowed to appear upheaval by not being allowed an exemption from closure. virtually in a hearing to appoint a receiver I do not want to belabor the COVID and have been allowed to call a witness issue, however, I would like to com- virtually because she was concerned for mend Oklahoma attorneys and the her health in appearing in a courthouse. judiciary in showing empathy, com- I mention all of this because I want to passion and loyalty to each other this acknowledge that during this pandemic, past year in working through a diffi- we have shown we are loyal to each other cult situation. Myself, and members and are loyal to our profession and asso- of my office, have been the recipient ciation. We have shown compassion and of this understanding, and I hope we understanding towards each other when extended the same courtesy to others. our façade does not have that appearance. It I received a phone call in March, has been said you can judge the character of after the COVID cases began to rap- a person by how he or she treats those who idly increase, from an attorney who is can do nothing for them in return. We often a friend and acquaintance with whom do that for some we periodically help on a I have had cases but had not talked to pro bono basis, but we don’t always show in over a year. I realized during the that towards each other on a regular basis. President Mordy practices conversation he had not called me to I believe we have shown the depth of our in Ardmore. discuss a case or a legal matter, and at character by how we have treated each other [email protected] 580-223-4384 the end of the conversation he told me this past year during the COVID pandemic. 4 | JANUARY 2021 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL is a publication of the Oklahoma Bar Association. All rights reserved. Copyright© 2021 Oklahoma Bar Association. Statements or opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Volume 92 — No. 1 — January 2021 Board of Editors or staff. Although advertising copy is reviewed, no endorsement of any product or service offered by any advertisement is intended or implied by publication. JOURNAL STAFF BOARD OF EDITORS Advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their ads, and the OBA reserves JOHN MORRIS WILLIAMS MELISSA DELACERDA, Stillwater, Chair the right to edit or reject any advertising copy Editor-in-Chief for any reason. Legal articles carried in THE [email protected] LUKE ADAMS, Clinton OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL are selected CAROL A. MANNING, Editor AARON BUNDY, Tulsa by the Board of Editors. Information about [email protected] submissions can be found at www.okbar.org. CASSANDRA L. COATS, Vinita LAUREN RIMMER BAR CENTER STAFF Advertising Manager PATRICIA A. FLANAGAN, Yukon John Morris Williams, Executive Director; [email protected] Gina L. Hendryx, General Counsel; Jim VIRGINIA D. HENSON, Norman Calloway, Director of Management Assistance C. SCOTT JONES, Oklahoma City Program; Craig D. Combs, Director of Administration; Janet K. Johnson, Director of TONY MORALES, Shawnee Educational Programs; Beverly Petry Lewis, Administrator MCLE Commission; Carol A. ROY TUCKER, Muskogee Manning, Director of Communications; Dawn Shelton, Director of Strategic Communications DAVID E. YOUNGBLOOD, Atoka and Marketing; Richard Stevens, Ethics Counsel; Robbin Watson, Director of Information Technology; Loraine Dillinder Farabow, Peter Haddock, Tracy Pierce Nester, Katherine Ogden, Steve Sullins, Assistant General Counsels OFFICERS & Les Arnold, Julie A. Bays, Gary Berger, BOARD OF GOVERNORS Debbie Brink, Jennifer Brumage, Melody Claridge, Cheryl Corey, Ben Douglas, MICHAEL C. MORDY, President, Ardmore; Johnny Marie Floyd, Matt Gayle, Suzi CHARLES E. GEISTER III, Vice President, Oklahoma City; JAMES R. Hendrix, Debra Jenkins, Rhonda Langley, HICKS, President-Elect, Tulsa; SUSAN B. SHIELDS, Immediate Jamie Lane, Durrel Lattimore, Edward Past President, Oklahoma City; MICHAEL J. DAVIS, Durant; TIM E. Maguire, Renee Montgomery, Whitney DECLERCK, Enid; JOSHUA A. EDWARDS, Ada; AMBER PECKIO Mosby, Lauren Rimmer, Tracy Sanders, GARRETT, Tulsa; BENJAMIN R. HILFIGER, Muskogee; ANDREW E. Mark Schneidewent, Kurt Stoner, Krystal HUTTER, Norman; DAVID T. MCKENZIE, Oklahoma City; MILES T. Willis, Laura Willis & Roberta Yarbrough PRINGLE, Oklahoma City; ROBIN L. ROCHELLE, Lawton; KARA I. SMITH, Oklahoma City; MICHAEL R. VANDERBURG, Ponca City; Oklahoma Bar Association 405-416-7000 RICHARD D. WHITE JR., Tulsa; APRIL J. MOANING, Chairperson, Toll Free 800-522-8065 OBA Young Lawyers Division, Oklahoma City FAX 405-416-7001 Continuing Legal Education 405-416-7029 The Oklahoma Bar Journal (ISSN 0030-1655) is published monthly, Ethics Counsel 405-416-7055 except June and July, by the Oklahoma Bar Association, 1901 N. Lincoln General Counsel 405-416-7007 Boulevard, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105. Periodicals postage Lawyers Helping Lawyers 800-364-7886 paid at Oklahoma City, Okla. and at additional mailing offices. Mgmt. Assistance Program 405-416-7008 Mandatory CLE 405-416-7009 Subscriptions $60 per year. Law students registered with the OBA and Board of Bar Examiners 405-416-7075 senior members may subscribe for $30; all active members included in Oklahoma Bar Foundation 405-416-7070 dues. Single copies: $3 Postmaster Send address changes to the Oklahoma Bar Association, www.okbar.org P.O. Box 53036, Oklahoma City, OK 73152-3036. THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL JANUARY 2021 | 5 MEET YOUR BAR ASSOCIATION Ardmore Attorney Mike Mordy to Serve as 2021 President By Lauren Rimmer T IS CLEAR MIKE MORDY’S FAMILY has shaped him into the person he is today and Iwill continue to refine him in the years to come. Being raised in a close-knit family, Mike grew up with his younger brother in Ardmore. Although Mike remembers Ardmore as a great place to grow up, he swore he would never return once he left for college. However, today Mike is a successful and well-liked attorney and family man around the town. YOUNG MIKE While out of school for the school. I remember first going Michael “Mike” Mordy was summer, Mike would go water to federal court in Muskogee as born in Tulsa. “My parents moved skiing on Lake Murray with his a practicing attorney, and the to Anchorage, Alaska, when I was friends, and he kept busy working same gentleman who was the 1 year old, where my father was various jobs. “I always had sum- court reporter when I was with stationed in the U.S. Air Force. mer jobs – I started working when my father was still the court When I was five, my parents I was 14 years old.