Law Day is the day set aside each year to celebrate the law and reflect on its importance in our lives. This year’s celebration, set for May 1, takes on special significance as we celebrate a number of milestone anniversaries associated with Law Day in our nation and state. Along with all Americans, in 2026, Oklahoma lawyers will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence this summer, the document that enshrined the concept of those “unalienable rights” upon which our nation of laws was founded. Here in Oklahoma, we are also commemorating the 50th anniversary of our Ask A Lawyer event. During this event, held annually in conjunction with Law Day, the public is invited to speak with an attorney at no charge about their legal questions. It is remarkable that over the last five decades, tens of thousands of Oklahomans have received help and informal advice through this valuable public service.

This year also marks 75 years since the beginning of Law Day right here in our state! Although Law Day has been celebrated nationally since 1958, it was Wewoka lawyer Hicks Epton who launched the “Know Your Courts, Know Your Rights” initiative in 1951. It was this idea of enhancing public understanding of the law and the role it plays in maintaining a fair and just society that evolved into the national May 1 celebration of Law Day as we know it today.

This year’s Law Day theme, “The Rule of Law and the American Dream,” guides us to think about how the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of our nation depend on the legal principles that were first established in that founding document 250 years ago: that we are all equal under the law. As we reflect on these principles, we should also take great pride in our state bar’s 50-year achievement in hosting the Ask A Lawyer community service event, sponsoring educational content aimed at public audiences and holding art and writing contests for Oklahoma students in pre-K through 12th grade.

ASK A LAWYER

Every year, on May 1, dozens of lawyer volunteers from around the state participate in this community service event, answering hundreds of legal questions at no cost. Phone banks of lawyers stand ready to take calls or answer questions submitted via email. The main phone banks are set up in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and this year, lawyers in Stilwell, Beaver, Hugo, Boise City, Ponca City, Purcell, Okmulgee, Miami and Stillwater served their communities by hosting Ask A Lawyer call-in events for at least part of the day.

We hope you will consider participating in this pro bono justice event in the future or coordinating and hosting a local event that will serve your community in 2027. This event is not only important – it is fun! Volunteering together provides a great opportunity for meaningful engagement with friends and colleagues. 

EDUCATIONAL CONTENT

The celebration of Law Day allows bar members to reaffirm their commitment to the rule of law, and we believe it is critical that all citizens understand this foundational concept as well. This year, we have created new video content highlighting information about select legal topics in engaging, easy-to-understand language. The videos also feature several volunteer Oklahoma judges and lawyers from Wewoka and the Seminole County area discussing how Law Day got its start. These videos are optimized for viewing on social media and are being shared on the OBA’s channels, including YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. We expect these videos to reach hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans throughout the Law Day season, and they will live on as evergreen content that schools, civic groups and individual viewers can access at any time of the year.

ART AND WRITING CONTESTS

We believe it is never too early to begin learning these important civic concepts so that even the youngest students are prepared to be good citizens of our state and nation. This year, nearly 1,150 students from 61 towns and more than 100 schools and homeschool groups entered the contest. More than $4,000 in prize money was awarded to students. You will see some of the award-winning entries that earned top honors beginning on page 48 of this journal. You may view all the winning entries on the OBA website at www.okbar.org/lawday/contest. We offer a huge thank you to all the Oklahoma educators, students and their families for participating in this year’s contest. Our hope is that all students who participated not only took pride in their work but also gained a better understanding of the rule of law and how it can help each of us achieve our own version of the American dream.

CONCLUSION

The rule of law is the foundation that makes the American dream possible. Lawyers and laypersons alike should celebrate laws that are applied fairly and consistently, creating a stable society where individuals can pursue opportunity with the confidence that their hard work and ambition can lead to success.

It takes hundreds of volunteers across the state to make each Law Day a success, and we are so grateful to those volunteer judges and lawyers, along with the statewide Law Day Committee, the participating county bars, the OBA Board of Governors and the OBA staff, along with the staff at the Oklahoma County and Tulsa County bar associations, for their efforts and commitment to support this annual project. Please visit www.okbar.org/lawday to learn more about Law Day and start thinking of ways you or your local county can get involved in this critical public education project in 2027!

---

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Mary Clement is a solo attorney practicing in probate and estate planning in Tulsa. She serves as co-chair of the OBA Law Day Committee and coordinates lawyer volunteers for the Ask A Lawyer event at the Tulsa County Bar Association. She may be reached at mary@clementlegalok.com.

Ed Wunch is the criminal justice debt attorney for Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City. He serves as co-chair of the OBA Law Day Committee, and he has chaired the committee since 2020 after serving as vice chair in 2019. He may be reached at ed.wunch@laok.org.