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Tulsa County Bar Association

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Current Available CLE’s On-Demand

All are one general credit hour, unless indicated by

1 ethics credit hour included)

Habits of Healthy & Happy Attorneys by John Lieber. Ethics in Quarantine by Richard Stevens How Not To Be Dumb On Social Media by Sheila J. Naifeh COVID-19 and Force Majeure Clauses in Contracts by Jim Hicks A New Take on Trial Skills by Matt & Darrah Day Employment Law Hot Topics by Randall Snapp The Role of a Step-Parent by Todd Alexander, Linda Van Valkenburg and Jaime Vogt Working From Home: Tech Tools, Tips and Real Life Challenges by Jim Calloway Overview and Mechanics of the Small Business Restructuring Act ("SBRA")

Did you miss an October CLE that you really wanted to attend? Check out VocalMeet A great resource for CLE on your schedule!

Reflections in Memory of

Sandra Cousins TCBA Executive Director 1989 - 2013

Judge Deirdre Dexter

Sandra Cousins served as the Executive Director of the Tulsa County Bar from 1989 until 2013. During that time, she brought our local county bar association to national prominence through her involvement with the AmericanBarAssociation’sannualandmid-yearmeetings and her involvement with the National Association of Bare Executives. Over the years Sandra served as Chair for several programs at the ABA annual and mid-year meetings as well as chairing Continuing Education staff retreat programs for the Bar Leadership Institute Program. ShealsoservedastheSecretaryoftheNationalConference of Bar Foundations, as well as being a member of the Sponsorship Committee to secure underwriting for NABE at the mid-year and annual meetings, and has co-chaired the Protect the Children Committee for theABA. All these things and more describe Sandra the Executive Director that the outside world saw. But she was that and so much more for everyone who has ever served as President of the organization. Her commitment to TCBA was unparalleled - a more personal side of her work as Executive Director involved her dedication to finding attorneys who would volunteer for the 3-year commitment involved with serving as President of the TCBA (President-Elect, President, and Past President). She contacted many of us, suggesting that we run for President-Elect.And,to steala line fromGary Clark- I am certainIwasherfavorite-justlikeeveryPresidenttoserve believed he or she was Sandra’s favorite. Because that is just how Sandra was - she was loyal to the President and would do whatever it took to make the current President look good - for the betterment of TCBA. Sandra was tireless in her work and devotion to theTCBA.Shewouldworklonghourstomakeuslawyers look good - such as the time involved in preparing for the TCBA centennial (3 years in the making) and would stay late if needed to talk to an attorney if he or she just needed a sounding board or confidant - one who never reveal the content of a confidential conversation and do whatever she could to help. This latter trait earned Sandra another title - that of Mother Superior - lovingly bestowed by those who treasured her ability to lend an ear and perhaps a wise suggestion all the while maintaining the confidence entrusted to her. But beyond her devotion to TCBAand its lawyers and her work as the TCBA Executive Director, Sandra was my friend and I will miss her. Our first grandchild, my Addie, was born shortly after I became President in 2009. Sandra conspired with my oldest son to get a picture of Addie and have it made into a blanket. I cherish that blanket to this day. Sandra was also there for me when I buried my father, hugging me as I cried. We celebrated the good times and commiserated with one another when we encountered the not so good times. I know I’m not the only lawyer Sandra has befriended over the years - and each of us has stories we could tell - of Sandra’s devotion, her kindness, her grit and determination. And each of us will miss her in our own way. But miss her we shall - now and always.

Judge Martha Rupp Carter

Sandra Cousins was an active leader who was never bashful and always willing to step up and move everyone to resolution. She was a leader in most, if not all, the activities she chose to do. She was a mentor to many women lawyers from the time they first dipped their toes into TCBA waters and she encouraged them as they immersed themselves more fully into service to the Tulsa County Bar Association. She helped many men in working toward and entering leadership roles too. One of Sandra’s significant talents is that she actively scouted our ranks for those with commitment to furthering the rule of law and the legal profession in Tulsa. Sandra’s involvement and activism at the national level provided her with knowledge and experiences she shared to strengthen and further us. Sandra’s drive and force on behalf of theTCBAandTCBF were key to the success we enjoy as other local bar associations weakened over the years. Sandra wanted her lawyers to do well individually and she supported and mentored so many of us to this end.

Renee DeMoss

Sandra Cousins was an amazing woman. Her contributions and commitment to the Tulsa Co. Bar Association and Foundation have been eloquently describedbyothers,buttheycanneverbeover-emphasized. By the time Sandra becameTCBAExecutive Director, she was already a leader in Tulsa community activities and had developed a who’s who contact list that she was able to consistently draw upon for the benefit of the TCBA. She always knew exactly who to contact for a TCBA project or event, and prided herself on a job well done for the best price possible. She led the TCBA through many challenging projects that benefitted Tulsa Co. lawyers and modernized our bar, such as upgrading our Bar facilities, showcasing the Centennial, working to computerize us, and always leading us to the top tier of Bar Associations across the nation. Sandra’s ability to get things done through charm, persuasion and sheer force of will was amazing to me. She always said her job was to ensure every TCBA President had a successful year, and she performed that job flawlessly. She helped bring in the best and brightest speakers for our events, like U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and President Gerald R. Ford, and was the perfect hostess and Tulsa ambassador with them all. She was an innovator in bar programming, and put our Sandra wanted our Association to flourish, leading her to involvement nationally as a bar executive to bring ideas home to us for our use and betterment. I never set out to betheTCBAPresident. IbelieveareasonIwasisbecause Sandra Cousins envisioned that I could and suggested that I consider doing it. I also believe that over those years she served as our Director, she helped many of us step up and serve in different ways. Sandra was skilled in knowing what talent or service was available from each of us, and knew when to call upon us to share. I will always remain grateful for her encouragement and friendship to me. The things I will miss most with her passing are Sandra’s strength of will and personality, her kindnesses to me and many of you, her seemingly unlimited energy, her work ethic, her humor, her stories, her zest for life, and the amazing force she was. She loved and was beloved by her family, her friends, and all her Tulsa lawyers.

small, municipal Bar Association on a par with much larger state bar organizations. Sandra was a rock star with the National Conference of Executive Directors and Bar Presidents and was the go-to person for advice among her colleagues. The esteem in which she was held led them to vote her the 2005 National Association of Bar Executives Bolton Award winner for Professional Excellence - an honor she richly deserved. Sandra generously shared her fameonthisnationalstagewitheveryTCBAPresidentshe had. She made sure we met everyone she knew at national meetings and was, without doubt, the reason several of us went on to hold positions on national Bar Boards. On a personal level, Sandra was a generous and loyal friend to so many. Through her activities she made countless friends in Tulsa and across the country, such as the Honolulu resident who would only travel off the island for vacation if Sandra would go to Hawaii to house and dog sit for her. Sandra’s holiday activities – especially her Christmas parties – were legendary. She has a Santa collectionwithoutrival,andsheandRaylovedstartingthe decorating every November, with every room adorned, complete with a Christmas tree in each. Sandra never forgot her friends’ family members or pets, and she never forgot a birthday. AtthecenterofSandra’sbigheartwasherfamily,

whom she loved beyond measure. Ray was often at her side for late night TCBA work and events, and Sean, Victoria, Travis,andKevinwerethecenterofmanywonderfulstories she told. Her two grandsons, however, were perhaps her greatest joy. I believe the trips she and Ray had taking them to Disney World and having them spend summer weeks in Tulsa were among her favorite times. It is impossible to describe someone who meant so much to so many and is now gone. I will simply say that Sandra was a generous, multi-talented person who lived life to the fullest, and gave her very best to the Tulsa County Bar Association and its members. I loved her and I will always miss her.

Judge Millie Otey & Faith Orlowski

What an extraordinary person was Sandra Cousins. My first encounter with this auburn-haired dynamo was my first term on the Board of the TCBA. And what Board it was! It was mostly men and the meetings were held at the old Louisiane restaurant at 18th and Boston. Sandra had every meeting organized with great efficiency and wholeheartedly supported Board’s desire to have not only fiscal security of the TCBA, but also a permanent location. Through all of this, Sandra worked with Ronnie Main, Bill Grimm and a host of other bar leader that culminated in the purchase of what is now the TCBAbuilding at 15th and Boston. Although it was a huge and unprecedented move, with a not-sopopular membership dues increase, Sandra held forth with each following President and his Board until Bill Grimm burned the mortgage when the last payment was made. True to their word, the Board reduced the dues back to the pre-purchase amount. Sandra breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Now let’s get to work”. And she did.

Sandra and her husband Ray, celebrating after being presented the Bolten Award for Professional Excellence at the National Association of Bar Executives in 2005

With each successive President, progress was made toward making the TCBA“second to none”. Part of being the Executive Director of the TCBA was participating at a national level with other bar EDs. Those meetings brought to light all of the programs that Tulsa lawyers had put into place in the Tulsa community; at one point in time, Sandra boasted that she had help place a lawyer on the Board of most non-profit organizations in Tulsa County. She believed in lawyers and the good works that lawyers perform, not just for the legal community, but for Tulsa in general. She never stopped looking for “lawyer opportunities”. She was well recognized, nationally, as one of the top bar Executive Directors. Sandra not only had boundless energy for accomplishing goals, but she has a unique and subtle steering mechanism that surfaced only when one of the Presidents was about to go “off course”. She had “the look” or she had a little rapping of the fingers on the desk, and that all it took to get back on course. I believe that part of keeping things on course was Sandra’s open door policy. It did not matter what time of day or evening, if a person came to her door, she stopped whatever she was doing and made whomever it was feel welcome. She never tired of attorneys coming to her door. It is a great loss to the TCBA and the Tulsa community to loose Sandra. She was an extraordinary person who can never be replaced; rather looked to as model of excellence.

TCBA CLE Hot Topics! Get Signed Up Now!

Nov. 5th: The Changing World of Evictions in 2020

by Eric Hallett, Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma

12pm – 1 HR

Nov. 6th: Women in Law

by Hon. Sharon Holmes Hon. Martha Rupp Carter

2pm – 1 HR

Nov. 16th: Family Law

by Hon. Ann Keele 12pm – 1 HR

• Nov. 17th: State Criminal Jurisdiction: How McGirt v. Oklahoma Should Affect Your State Criminal Practice

by Kasey Baldwin, Tulsa County Public Defender 12pm – 1 HR

Dec. 3rd: Broader Implications of the McGirt Opinion

by Deborah Reed, Reed Legal, PLLC 12pm – 1 HR

Dec. 14th: Starting Again: Career Changing for the

Mid-Career Lawyer by Jim Calloway, Oklahoma Bar Association 12pm – 1 HR

Register at www.tulsabar.com - All seminars to be held virtually.