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ALSO INSIDE: Annual Meeting • New Lawyers Admitted to the Bar Diversity Award and Spotlight Award Recipients Announced Volume 90 — No. 8 — October 2019 Appellate LAW contents October 2019 • Vol. 90 • No. 8 THEME: APPELLATE LAW Editor: Luke Adams FEATURES PLUS 6 Interlocutory Appeals in Oklahoma: 44 Annual Meeting What, When and How 65 OBA Diversity Awards BY CHASE MCBRIDE BY TELANA MCCULLOUGH 12 Reconsider Your Motion to Reconsider: 69 New Lawyers Admitted to the Bar How Post-Trial Motions Affect Your 72 Lambird Spotlight Award Winners Civil Appeal BY BEVAN GRAYBILL STOCKDELL AND 75 2020 Committee Sign-up KImbERLY WITHIAM CARLSON 18 Appealable Orders: Asking the Key Questions BY ANN HADRAVA 24 Proper Practice on CERTIORARI: Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Crafting Better Arguments BY KYLE ROGERS AND JOHN HOLDEN 30 Practical Tips for Civil Appellate Brief Writing in Oklahoma State Court BY SUSAN BEATY AND KELLIE LAUGHLIN 36 Building a Better Brief: Using Each Section of Your Appellate Brief to Make Your Case BY JENNIFER M. WARREN 40 Trials and Tribulations From the Appellate Vantage Point PAGE 44 – Annual Meeting BY JUDGE JANE P. WISEMAN DEPARTMENTS 4 From the President 76 From the Executive Director 78 Law Practice Tips 82 Ethics & Professional Responsibility 84 Board of Governors Actions 90 Oklahoma Bar Foundation News 92 Young Lawyers Division 94 For Your Information 95 Bench and Bar Briefs 96 In Memoriam 98 Editorial Calendar 99 What’s Online 104 The Back Page PAGE 72 – Spotlight Award Winners FROM THE PRESIDENT Changes to MCLE Hours Proposed By Charles W. Chesnut LEARNED IN BIOLOGY CLASS that living things legal education programming. A member I adapt and evolve, or they cease to exist. The same can be survey has revealed that members con- said for businesses and organizations, and even for systems sider CLE as the most important service within organizations. One of those systems that has been the OBA provides. It is vitally import- adapting and evolving over the years within the Oklahoma ant the OBA continues to make quality, Bar Association is continuing legal education (CLE). affordable programming available to its A primary respon- members. Since 1986, sibility of any unified the OBA has been (mandatory) bar asso- the market leader in ciation is to assist the After a thorough analysis of CLE in CLE in Oklahoma. Supreme Court in the While still the mar- regulation of the legal Oklahoma, a task force is making ket leader, its market profession. Another is share decreases each to serve its members recommendations for changes, year. There are over and the profession as 1,000 CLE providers a whole. which are reflected in a resolution available to OBA In Oklahoma, a members. A good portion of the OBA’s to be considered at the upcoming number of those pro- assigned task to aid vide credit hours at the court is fulfilled House of Delegates. no charge or provide through the Mandatory programming that is Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Commission, chaired much less expensive than the OBA. The by Mike Mordy of Ardmore. The MCLE administrator budget reveals that revenue from CLE, is Beverly Petry Lewis, who has been although still one of the OBA’s primary the supervisor of MCLE for more revenue sources, has decreased each than 30 years and does a superb job. year since 2015. It has decreased mark- MCLE Commission rules currently edly since 2005. require that each OBA attorney who It was because of these and other is actively practicing law must obtain factors that I felt it was important to 12 hours of CLE each year with one undertake a thorough analysis of CLE in of those hours consisting of ethics. Oklahoma. As a result, the Continuing The theory is that CLE leads to Legal Education Task Force was created more knowledgeable, competent and to examine all aspects of CLE program- effective lawyers, which improves ming including types of programming, legal professional standards and delivery methods and value to members. leads to increased public confidence The real issue was whether the OBA in the legal profession. needs to be in the CLE business, and if President Chesnut practices in Miami. One of the ways the OBA serves so, how should it best be structured to [email protected] 918-542-1845 its members is by providing quality produce maximum effectiveness. (continued on page 81) 4 | OCTOBER 2019 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL is a publication of the Oklahoma Bar Association. All rights reserved. Copyright© 2019 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 90 — No. 8 — October 2019 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 JOHN MORRIS WILLIAMS MELISSA DELACERDA, Stillwater, Chair content of their ads, and the OBA reserves Editor-in-Chief the right to edit or reject any advertising copy [email protected] LUKE ADAMS, Clinton for any reason. Legal articles carried in THE 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 MACKENZIE SCHEER Advertising Manager PATRICIA A. FLANAGAN, Yukon BAR CENTER STAFF [email protected] John Morris Williams, Executive Director; AMANDA GRANT, Spiro Gina L. Hendryx, General Counsel; Richard LAURA STONE Stevens, Ethics Counsel; Jim Calloway, Director Communications Specialist VIRGINIA D. HENSON, Norman of Management Assistance Program; Craig D. [email protected] Combs, Director of Administration; Susan C. SCOTT JONES, Oklahoma City LAURA WOLF Damron, Director of Educational Programs; Communications Specialist SHANNON L. PRESCOTT, Okmulgee Beverly Petry Lewis, Administrator MCLE [email protected] Commission; Carol A. Manning, Director LESLIE TAYLOR, Ada of Communications; 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, Melody Claridge, Cheryl CHARLES W. CHESNUT, President, Miami; Corey, Nickie Day, Ben Douglas, Dieadra Florence, Johnny Marie Floyd, Matt Gayle, LANE R. NEAL, Vice President, Oklahoma City; SUSAN B. SHIELDS, Suzi Hendrix, Debra Jenkins, Rhonda President-Elect, Oklahoma City; KIMBERLY HAYS, Immediate Past Langley, Jamie Lane, Durrel Lattimore, President, Tulsa; MATTHEW C. BEESE, Muskogee; TIM E. DECLERCK, Renee Montgomery, Whitney Mosby, Enid; MARK E. FIELDS, McAlester; BRIAN T. HERMANSON, Tracy Sanders, Mackenzie Scheer, Mark Ponca City; JAMES R. HICKS, Tulsa; ANDREW E. HUTTER, Schneidewent, Laura Stone, Krystal Willis, Norman; DAVID T. MCKENZIE, Oklahoma City; BRIAN K. MORTON, Laura Willis, Laura Wolf & Roberta Yarbrough Oklahoma City; JIMMY D. OLIVER, Stillwater; MILES T. PRINGLE, Oklahoma City; BRYON J. WILL, Yukon; D. KENYON WILLIAMS JR., Oklahoma Bar Association 405-416-7000 Toll Free 800-522-8065 Tulsa; BRANDI NOWAKOWSKI, Shawnee, Chairperson, OBA FAX 405-416-7001 Young Lawyers Division Continuing Legal Education 405-416-7029 Ethics Counsel 405-416-7055 The Oklahoma Bar Journal (ISSN 0030-1655) is published monthly, General Counsel 405-416-7007 except June and July, by the Oklahoma Bar Association, 1901 N. Lincoln Lawyers Helping Lawyers 800-364-7886 Boulevard, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105. Periodicals postage paid Mgmt. Assistance Program 405-416-7008 at Oklahoma City, Okla. and at additional mailing offices. Mandatory CLE 405-416-7009 Board of Bar Examiners 405-416-7075 Subscriptions $60 per year that includes the Oklahoma Bar Journal Oklahoma Bar Foundation 405-416-7070 Court Issue supplement delivered electronically semimonthly. Law students registered with the OBA and senior members may subscribe for $30; all active members included in 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 OCTOBER 2019 | 5 APPELLATE LAW Interlocutory Appeals in Oklahoma: What, When and How By Chase McBride N INTERLOCUTORY ORDER IS AN ORDER WHICH IS NOT ‘FINAL,’ does not “A culminate in a judgment [and] leaves the parties before the tribunal to try the issues on the merits...”1 An interlocutory appeal is an “appeal of an order in a case that has not reached its conclusion in the trial court.”2 In order for an interlocutory Orders granting a new trial or An order certifying or refus- order to qualify for an interlocu- vacating a judgment on any ing to certify an action to be tory appeal, it must either “(a) fall ground,4 maintained as a class action, within a class of interlocutory An order granting or refus- Orders found in section 721 of orders appealable by right or (b) be ing the discharge, vacation or the probate code (not includ- certified by the trial court for modification of an attachment, ing final accounting or distri- immediate (prejudgment) review An order granting or denying bution orders)7 and because it affects a substantial part a temporary injunction (except Orders made under 12 O.S. of the merits of the controversy.”3 where the injunction was §1879 involving Uniform The first type of interlocutory orders granted via an ex parte hear- Arbitration Act.8 are specifically listed in the statutes. ing) or an order that grants or The second are up to the discretion refuses to discharge, vacate, Commencement of Interlocutory of the trial judge to certify but often modify or refuses to discharge Appeals Qualified by Statutory Right involve issues of law that may need a temporary injunction,5 A party must commence the to be resolved prior to the court An order granting or refusing interlocutory appeal by filing a determining the outcome of the to discharge, vacate or modify petition in error (along with 14 copies), case.