skip to main content

Bryan J. Nowlin focuses his practice in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Trusts & Estate Planning (Litigation), Water Law, Municipal Law, Construction Law, and Native American Law. He has extensive experience with jury trials in both state and federal courts throughout Oklahoma. Bryan is proud to represent several communities throughout the State of Oklahoma on topics ranging from water issues and construction disputes to annexation. Bryan also represents several individual and corporate trustees regarding their duties to beneficiaries and in defense of actions brought for breach of fiduciary duty. 

Bryan holds an individual AV Preeminent peer review rating through Martindale-Hubbell and is a member of the firm's Recruitment & Diversity Committee. He is also a former Vice Chair of the Civil Procedure and Evidence Committee of the Oklahoma Bar Association.

Bryan obtained the following results for clients:

  • Numerous reversals of family court judgments on appeal to the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals and Supreme Court, including affirmation of the value of a business on means other than those utilized by the trial court. 
  • Obtained settlements of two decade-long water territory disputes.
  • Recovered damages for tortious interference and breach of a confidentiality provision in a federal copyright claim, including obtaining fees for the client.
  • Obtained a jury verdict of contempt of court after a week-long trial resulting in recovery of significant purge fees as well as an attorney-fee award for the client. 

In addition, Bryan has provided outstanding representation to myriad clients, including:

  • Jage v. Trust Co. of Oklahoma, 2009 WL 368504 (N.D. Okla. 2009)
  • Mexico Private Equity Fund v. Daugherty, 2009 WL 2044720 (N.D. Okla. 2009)
  • Simmons Food, Inc. v. H. Mahmood J. Al-Bunnia & Sons Co., 2010 WL 58291 (W.D. Ark. 2010)
  • Spriggs v. First American Title & Trust Co., 2011 WL 665622 (W.D. Okla. 2011)
  • Apache Tribe of Oklahoma v. Graves, 2012 OK CIV APP 70, 280 P.3d 978 (appellate reversal in favor of tribe in gaming regulation negligence matter).
  • First Bank and Trust v. Maynahonah, 2013 OK CIV APP 101, 313 P.3d 1044 (appellate reversal in favor of tribe on sovereign immunity grounds).
  • Gray v. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC, 2023 OK 7, 526 P.3d 1115.
  • Baker Hughes Services International, LLC v. Joshi Technologies, Inc., 73 F.4th 1139 (10th Cir. 2023)
  • Jackson v. eLynx Technologies, LLC, 2021 WL 3633483 (N.D. Okla. 2021).
  • Burgess v. Johnson, 2021 WL 3418426 (N.D. Okla. 2021).

Finally, Bryan is a frequent speaker regarding water law and general commercial litigation topics. He also has been published in numerous publications, including the Oklahoma Bar Journal and the Journal Record newspaper. Bryan is actively involved with his family and community, including service on the non-profit board of the Child Abuse Network. 

Education

  • University of Oklahoma College of Law (J.D., with distinction, 2006) Editor-In- Chief, American Indian Law Review
  • Boston College (B.S., B.A. in Political Science and History, magna cum laude, 2002)

Admissions

  • Oklahoma (2006)
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern, Western and Northern Districts of Oklahoma
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth and Tenth Circuits
  • Muscogee (Creek) Nation
  • 2012 - Present Hall Estill
  • Doerner, Saunders, Daniel & Anderson
  • Recognized as a Super Lawyer in Oklahoma in Business Litigation
  • Named to the 40 & Under Hot List by Benchmark Litigation in 2018 and 2019
  • Recognized as a Local Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation
  • Recognized as a Best Lawyer in America in Commercial Litigation, Family Law and Litigation-Trusts & Estates
  • Member, Board of Directors, Child Abuse Network
  • Member, Jenks Chamber of Commerce
  • American Bar Association, member, Trust & Fiduciary Litigation Committee, Real Property Section
  • Tulsa County Bar Association
  • Oklahoma Bar Association, member, Civil Procedure & Evidence Committee
  • Conflicts in Sovereignty: Naragansett Tribe in Rhode Island, 30 American Indian L. Rev. 151, 2005
  • "Lake of the Torches: An Ongoing Saga in Indian Gaming Lending," Oklahoma Bar Journal, vol. 85, pp.329-332 (February 16, 2013)
  • Bryan regularly speaks at seminars regarding the law relating to business in Indian Country, including serving as a panelist during the 2008 American Indian Chamber of Commerce Business Summit.