Since 1996, Spotlight Awards have been given to five women every year who have distinguished themselves in the legal profession and have lit the way for other women. In 1998, the award was named to honor the late Mona Salyer Lambird, the first woman OBA president and one of the award’s first recipients. The award is sponsored by the OBA Women in Law Section. Each year, all previous winners nominate and select the current year’s recipients. A plaque bearing the names of all recipients hangs in the Oklahoma Bar Center in Oklahoma City. This is the 28th year of award presentations. Recipients will be honored during the Women in Law Conference on Sept. 20 in Tulsa. For more information about the conference, visit www.okbar.org/wil.

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TAYLOR HENDERSON

Taylor Henderson has dedicated her legal career to the great state of Oklahoma and the best boards and agencies it has to offer. She started her public service career in 2012 in the Oklahoma Tax Commission Litigation Division, where she learned that any subject matter, even taxes, can be interesting and rewarding when paired with a great attitude. Thereafter, she continued to serve the state of Oklahoma in various divisions of the Oklahoma attorney general’s public protection units as a special counsel and deputy chief assistant attorney general. Since 2018, Ms. Henderson has served as the administrative director of the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints, where she leads the council’s day-to-day operations and the investigative team and frequently coordinates and presents at judicial education seminars across the state. Otherwise, she can be found drumming up more work and side projects for herself to promote confidence in the judicial system.

Ms. Henderson serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Judicial Disciplinary Counsel and the OBA Bench and Bar Committee. She frequently presents on various topics relative to judicial ethics for both the Association of Judicial Disciplinary Counsel and the Center for Judicial Ethics at the National Center for State Courts. She attributes any successes that have come her way to doing her best and forgetting the rest.

Outside the office, she enjoys her free time by traveling with her husband, Jacob, doting on their golden retrievers, Charlie and Crouton, and serving on various committees for her historic neighborhood in Oklahoma City.

 

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JANET JOHNSON

Janet Johnson is the first female executive director of the Oklahoma Bar Association. Before beginning that role in 2023, she had served as director of educational programs for the OBA Continuing Legal Education Department since 2020.

Previously, Ms. Johnson held different positions within the Department of Human Services Child Support Services, including serving as managing attorney in the Office of Impact Advocacy and Legal Outreach. In that role, she advocated as lead counsel in appellate proceedings and managed legal trainings and workshops for Child Support Services and the legal community. Before joining DHS, she was a solo practitioner focusing on family law and collections.

Ms. Johnson earned her bachelor’s degree in letters from OU in 2006 and received her J.D. from the OCU School of Law in 2010. She is licensed to practice in Oklahoma and the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

 

 

 

 

 

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JUDGE LORETTA F. RADFORD

Judge Loretta F. Radford received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from TU, and she is a 1984 graduate of the OU College of Law. She is admitted and licensed to practice law in the state of Oklahoma and is authorized to practice law in the federal courts located within Oklahoma.

On Sept. 13, 2019, Judge Radford retired from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma after 26 years and accepted a position as legal director for the Center for Criminal Justice at the OCU School of Law, where she worked from 2019 until 2022.

As a part of her legal career, she has had the honor of serving as the first assistant to the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma and later as acting United States attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma during a presidential transition period. Prior to these appointments, Judge Radford prosecuted criminal cases and defended the government in civil actions.

Before working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she was an assistant public defender in Tulsa County for approximately eight years, providing legal representation to indigent defendants charged with felony and misdemeanor crimes.

In May 2018, she was inducted into her high school alma mater’s hall of fame. Judge Radford has received numerous honors and awards throughout her legal career that highlight her work as a public servant in the legal community and the Tulsa area.

She currently serves as a special judge for the 14th Judicial District in Tulsa County.

 

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EMMA ROLLS

Emma Rolls is the first assistant federal public defender for the Western District of Oklahoma and the chief of its Capital Habeas Unit. She represents individuals under a sentence of death during their federal habeas proceedings, as well as through the clemency process. In 2021, Ms. Rolls received the Opio Toure Courageous Advocate Award from the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and the Thurgood Marshall Appellate Advocacy Award from the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. She is a member of the Oklahoma bar, as well as all the federal district courts in Oklahoma, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.

Prior to her service at the Federal Public Defender’s Office, she was a legal research and writing professor at the OCU School of Law for nine years, during which time she received the J. William Conger Mentor of the Year Award and the Professor of the Year Award from the Student Bar Association. She began her career as an attorney with the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, representing capital defendants during their state direct appeals. She graduated with distinction from the OU College of Law in 2000.

Ms. Rolls currently serves on the board of the Western District of Oklahoma Historical Society. She has also served on numerous other boards, including Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Children’s Theater. She lives in the heart of Oklahoma City with her husband, Professor Lee Peoples, their daughter, Amelia Peoples, and their two beloved rescue mutts, Trixie and Teddy.

 

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MARSHAL SHARON SCHOOLEY

Marshal Sharon Schooley has been privileged to serve as the marshal of the Oklahoma Supreme Court since 2017. She manages cases in the Supreme Court from filing to mandate and assists the chief justice with court proceedings and various administrative and procedural matters. She is honored to have worked for five chief justices, including Justices Reif, Combs, Gurich, Darby and Kane. In 2020, she received the Chief Justice Award of Excellence presented by Chief Justice Noma Gurich in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the Oklahoma judiciary. She also serves as marshal for the Court on the Judiciary, Trial Division, and for the Court of Tax Review.

She earned her bachelor’s degree at OU as a Phi Beta Kappa and her J.D. from the TU College of Law, where she received the Order of the Curule Chair. She began her legal career as a staff attorney for the Court of Civil Appeals and then became an associate attorney at Blackstock, Joyce, Pollard & Montgomery. She represented nonprofit organizations in tax litigation and handled matters in securities law and immigration. She became a member of the State Bar of California and assisted tax-exempt clients in California.

Marshal Schooley returned to the Court of Civil Appeals in Tulsa and became an adjunct professor at the TU College of Law, where she was voted the Outstanding Adjunct Professor in 1997-98. She was also a co-adjunct professor with Justice Reif for Business Law at Oral Roberts University. She then returned to private practice and enjoyed working with Clay Roberts in general civil practice. Unable to resist the draw of the court, she accepted a staff attorney position with the Oklahoma Supreme Court and was proud to be subsequently appointed as the sixth marshal of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.