September 1, 2019 began my term as President of the Oklahoma County Bar Association, your local volunteer Bar Association. I am a trial lawyer at Hiltgen & Brewer, P.C. I began my lawyering career in October of 1986, at a law firm then known as McKinney, Stringer & Webster. Like young associates in many OKC law firms of the time, we were encouraged to be active in the local Bar Association, make connections and get to know other lawyers and judges. In the beginning this was mostly social connections through the Young Lawyers Division which was very active. Beyond social gatherings like the Myriad Gardens Swamp Race and community commitments, the OCBA Young Lawyers had softball and basketball leagues. In 1993, I was encouraged to run for the OCBA Board of Directors and served a three-year term that overlapped the Murrah Building bombing. I witnessed your Bar actively serving the injured community of OKC. Later OCBA Past President, the late Judge Vicki Robertson, selected me for a five-year term as the Chair of the Fee Grievance Committee. I have served the OCBA on that committee and the Briefcase Committee since. A problem with practicing law for 33 years is that you have stories to tell and experiences to relate. Over the next twelve months, you will get an ear (eye) full.
Before I get too far off the rails, I must thank 2018-2019 President Special Judge Sheila Stinson. Judge Stinson has been an exemplar President for the OCBA and steady rudder for your Bar during the past year. She will be a hard act to follow, especially since she lead your Bar to receive the Outstanding Local Bar Association award from the OBA but with the help of your new Board, Officers, Committee Chairs, Vice Chairs, Co-Chairs, Committee Members and the amazing staff triplets of Debbie, Pam and Connie, we will get things done. If I make too much of a mess for President-Elect Judge Don Andrews to clean up, then I may be in trouble in more venues than I can handle.
Each President of the OCBA has a theme on which their year is built. I can’t proceed on the theme of “Don’t Mess It Up”. So, I am going to unveil my theme for the 2019 – 2020 year for you. Given the current culture polarization on politics and volume of noise and misinformation on social media and in the news, I considered important to reinforce something we should all already know. Simply put the theme is, “Built On A Firm Foundation”. The By-Laws of the OCBA, in summary, state that the OCBA exists to promote the legal profession. My belief is that our profession exists only upon the firm foundations of the American Civil and Criminal Jury Trial system. The OCBA through CLEs, community service projects, and programs will emphasize the firm and solid foundations of the independent judiciary, the jury trial system, and our commitment to social justice through community activities. In many cases the only time that non attorneys see lawyers are when they are volunteering and providing social justice for those with greater needs. This will be a fun and educational journey.
For those of you who do not know me from social media or the practice of law, I am married to Kelly for 35 years. We enjoy traveling the 50 states and searching for good places to eat. We have two adult daughters, Allison Hernandez, who is a lawyer in Sacramento, California and is married to Jorge, and Jessica Holsomback who is a Campus Minister for CRU at North Texas University in Denton, Texas and is married to Nick. Kelly and I attend the Vine Community Church which is a small non-denominational evangelical church with an active urban ministry.
My path to law school and lawyering was anything but straight. In my family, I was a first generation college attendee and one of the first to obtain a professional degree. I went to OU on an Engineering Scholarship and received a Mechanical Engineering Degree. However, my age group graduated during a bust cycle, which pretty much left Oklahoma as a waste land. Comparing it to the current Oklahoma, it seems unlikely that we would have the population and all the restaurant and entertainment opportunities that we have, including the Thunder. Although that also brings with it the scourge of big league poor officiating. In any event, with the job offers rescinded and Oklahoma energy companies going out of business, I did what all recent graduates did that wanted to continue going to Sooner football games and not start paying on their student loan and I applied to graduate school. I spent a year working at Tinker as a jet engine engineer while going to night school for my MBA at OU before getting into law school at OU. I had no idea what law school was about or what lawyers did but it was three more years of Barry and Billy and holding my student loan in abeyance. Similarly, I had no idea what litigation was until I interned for retired United States District Judge Ralph Thompson for the second semester of my second year of law school. I was able to watch Judge Thompson rule from the bench and watch and listen to experienced litigators who appeared in front of him. It was so different than patent law, engineering, corporate law or anything else I had been focused on and I was immediately attracted to it. Fortunately, during law school I had several legal internship/law clerk jobs at excellent litigation firms in Oklahoma City that gave me great experiences. I was hooked on litigation. One thing that most trial lawyers will tell you is that they have to believe that the jury system works whether they win, lose or draw. Ultimately, lawyers have to make the system work as it provides an important function in American society. Without the commitment of professionals like you and volunteer organizations like the OCBA, this part of this essential foundation created by the Constitutions (both Federal and Oklahoma) could fail. That alternative is simply not an option.
Ultimately, you will get to read the rest of my story, hear about great places to eat and maybe even see pictures of pie in Briefcase articles to come. In sum, we will be promoting the public perception of our profession and ensuring that the America jury system with independent judges, and legislators and the executive enacting laws for the common good. No other system of justice like it exists on the planet. On May 1, 2020, which is the OCBA celebration of Law Day, we will have special events and the annual Law Day luncheon marking the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote in all states. I cannot think of a better combination of programs to promote lawyers, judges and the American Justice System than we will roll out during the coming year. I look forward to serving alongside each of you at your OCBA.
Byline: Michael W. Brewer is an attorney, founder, and partner of Hiltgen & Brewer, PC in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. To contact Mike, email mbrewer@hbokc.law, call (405) 605-9000 or tweet him at @attymikeb. For more information, please visit http://www.hbokc.law.
Open & Obvious? 