Neil Bogan Professionalism Award Mac D. Finlayson

The TCBA is honored to award Mac D. Finlayson with the Neil E. Bogan Award for Professionalism. This award honors a member who exemplifies the high ideals of the legal profession, someone who serves the public and his or her clients ethically, diligently, and competently.

Mac is senior counsel with Eller and Detrich. He graduated from Drury College (B.A. degree, cum laude, 1973). and the University of Tulsa (J.D., 1976), and has been engaged in the private practice Tulsa since that time, emphasizing commercial litigation, creditors’ rights and bankruptcy law.

He is nationally recognized for his expertise in the defense of guarantors of student loans in bankruptcy dischargeability adversary proceedings. He is boardcertified by the American Board of Certification as one of only two “triple-certified” attorneys in the United States in creditors’ rights law, business and consumer bankruptcy law and is a Director and Officer (President, 2014) of that organization. He has also been granted the designation of Certified Fraud Examiner by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

“A consummate attorney, meticulously prepared, forceful and persuasive but with a true servant's heart” is how CAP Coordinator Beth Nellis describes him. She goes on to call him a “true renaissance man, friend of the arts and champion for those who need someone to listen to their story”.

The characteristics of a true professional are exemplified by scholarship, honor, personal integrity, leadership, pride in our system of justice, and generous pro bono public service. Anyone who knows Mac knows he exemplifies the high ideals of the legal profession through public service. He works as diligently and ethically for his pro bono clients as he does for contracted clients. Here is a breakdown of the characteristics of a true professional and how and why Mac is this year’s award winner.

• Scholarship – Mac was once a jazz musician!

Not only did he serve on the Board of Directors for the Tulsa Jazz Hall of Fame, he also donated his own valued collection of instruments and recordings to the organization. Mac helped elevate the Jazz Hall’s profile during his time on the board, not only in Tulsa and throughout the state of Oklahoma, but nationally and internationally. He led the charge to secure funding for the Jazz Hall’s home at Tulsa’s historic landmark, Old Union Depot Train

Station.

• Honor – Mac is a mentor and fire safety educator at Celia Clinton Elementary School.

He also serves as a volunteer firefighter and

Captain of the Beggs Rural Fire Department.

He spends at least one night a week "at the house" protecting residents in this rural area.

• Personal Integrity – When serving CAP, Mac routinely takes on clients and cases at the evictions docket. He understands how having an eviction on one’s record sets a person up for failure and he works tirelessly to keep families in their homes long enough so they

can find another place to live, thus helping these families before they fall into further despair.

• Leadership – Mr. Finlayson is a Paul

Harris Fellow and Community Fellow of the Rotary Club of Tulsa, serving multiple terms on its Board of Directors, and honored as its 2009 Rotarian of the Year.

He chaired the Rotary Club of Tulsa’s

Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Awards in 2005 and has overseen its honorees and speakers’ selection for over 15 years. He has also served as the Chair of the Tulsa

County Bar’s Pro Bono Committee since 2019.

• Pride in the Justice System – Just in 2021 alone, Mac worked with the Tulsa

County Court Administrator to update the

Landlord Tenant Act booklet and get that out to the public. He also worked diligently to complete a re-write of the CAP Evictions

Handbook outlining and updating current processes and procedures. This handbook serves as a bench manual by some judges, a testament to the thoroughness of the information.

• Generous Pro Bono Public Service –

Since CAPs inception, Mac has made 62 appearances at the Evictions Docket, representing 180 pro bono client cases.

This accounts for 315.50 hours of his time. This is the equivalent of $46,350 in donated billable hours. This is just the time that the TCBA could verify and does not include the hours of service to the other wonderful organizations that Mac has served over his career.

These brief glimpses about Mac are just the tip of the iceberg when one begins to dive into his long and lustrous career and more than enough to celebrate and honor him. The next time you have the privilege to see Mac, please thank him for his continued contributions to our community and for serving the public and his clients ethically, diligently, and competently.