TALK OF GREENWOOD
Dr. Jerry Goodwin
Melvin Hall, Esq., is a shareholder with Riggs, Abney, Turpen, Orbison, and Lewis law firm with Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Englewood, Colo. Photo Provided
The University of Oklahoma College of Law recently recognized outstanding alumni who distinguished themselves through their leadership and service in the legal profession.
Melvin Hall, Esq., was one of five individuals honored by the Order of the Owl Hall of Fame. Since its inception in 2011, the Order of the Owl has inducted 37 deserving OU Law alumni.
“This year continues the law school’s tradition of honoring several of its most respected alumni,” said Katheleen Guzman, dean of the OU College of Law. “Our honorees embody OU Law’s mission: to educate lawyers and leaders whose lives change ours for the better. We could not be more proud of the varied ways in which their work has had a profoundly positive impact for our state, our nation and our profession…”
After an eight-year public service career with the Cleveland County District Attorney’s Office (1980-1983) and as executive director of the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission (1983-1987), Hall joined the Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbison, and Lewis law firm on Jan. 1, 1988.
Hall has focused his practice on civil litigation of matters relating to employment law, business and commercial law, and civil rights law.
In addition to his law practice, Hall is a nationally sought-after speaker and lecturer on employment law and civil rights issues.
He is currently an adjunct professor at OU, teaching classes on employment law and the civil rights movement. He presented at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education conference in New Orleans in 2018.
Hall has served on numerous boards and commissions, including a seven-year term as an OU Regent from 1992 through 1999. Currently, he serves on the LegalShield Board of Directors and the Arvest Bank Board of Directors. At OU, he serves on the Executive Committee of the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies, the Women’s and Gender Studies Board of Advocates, and OU Law’s Board of Visitors and Oklahoma Innocence Project Advisory Board.
Other Order of the Owl honorees were Jari Askins, former lieutenant governor of the State of Oklahoma; Terence Kern, chief judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma; Clark Musser, oil and gas attorney and recipient of the Eugene Kuntz Award; and Natalie Shirley, chair of the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents.
Additionally, Reagan Bradford, partner in the law firm of Bradford and Wilson, received the Order of the Parliamentarian. This award is given to a recent OU law school graduate for distinguished accomplishments in the first 20 years of the graduate’s legal career.
