Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Taylor will swear in nine attorneys to the Oklahoma Bar Association Board of Governors at 10:30 a.m. Friday [Jan. 14] in the Supreme Court Courtroom at the state Capitol.
For the first time in the association's 107-year history, women will occupy the top three offices on its Board of Governors. Eufaula attorney Deborah Reheard will be sworn in as president, Oklahoma City attorney Cathy Christensen will serve as president-elect, and retired Judge Reta Strubhar of Piedmont will take the oath of office as vice president.
Reheard has been a solo practitioner since 1991 and was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar Association in 1987. Her law practice focuses on family law as well as criminal defense and bar disciplinary defense. She earned her J.D. from the University of Tulsa College of Law in 1987, after receiving a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern State University. She worked as a journalist before entering law school, covering general news assignments is several communities in northeastern Oklahoma. She will continue to operate her law practice while serving as president of the bar association.
Reheard's top goal for the OBA is launching a program that will provide free legal assistance to military service members in need.
Christensen will become OBA president on Jan. 1, 2012. She has practiced in Oklahoma City since 1986, focusing on family law and general civil litigation. In addition to a term as a board member on the OBA Board of Governors, she previously served as the association’s vice president in 1994.
Strubhar was the first woman to serve on the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. She served on that court from 1993 to 2005 and was its presiding judge from 1999-2000. As vice president, she will serve a one-year term along with Tulsa attorney Allen Smallwood, who is the bar association’s immediate past president.
Other OBA Board of Governors members being sworn in for three-year terms are Gerald Dennis, Antlers; Renée DeMoss, Tulsa; Christopher Meyers, Lawton; and Scott Pappas, Stillwater. Young Lawyers Division Chairperson Roy Tucker of Muskogee will take the oath of office to serve on the board for one year.
The 16,000-member Oklahoma Bar Association, headquartered in Oklahoma City, was created by the Oklahoma Supreme Court to advance the administration of justice and to foster and maintain learning, integrity, competence, public service and high standards of conduct among Oklahoma's legal community.
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