Hall Estill Attorneys Recognized as Best Lawyers in America and Lawyers of the Year 2020

August 2019

Hall Estill, Oklahoma’s leading law firm, with offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Denver and Northwest Arkansas, is pleased to announce 51 of its attorneys were selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® annual list of the state’s top attorneys. Of the attorneys selected, 10 were named Lawyers of the Year.

“Our continued recognition as one the region’s top law firms truly reflects the hardworking and talented attorneys we have at the firm,” said Mike Cooke, managing partner for Hall Estill. “Being acknowledged by your peers for your expertise is a remarkable accomplishment. These recognitions speak to our strength as a firm and the trust and confidence our clients have in us.”

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Almost 87,000 industry leading lawyers are eligible to vote (from around the world), and we have received almost 10 million evaluations on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world. For the 2019 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, 7.8 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in almost 60,000 leading lawyers being included in the new edition. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers "the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice."

Best Lawyers 2020 Lawyers of the Year from Hall Estill are:

Mark K. Blongewicz – Best Lawyers 2020 Tulsa Insurance Law “Lawyer of the Year”
Steven A. Broussard – Best Lawyers 2020 Tulsa Employment Law – Management “Lawyer of the Year”
Jon A. Epstein – Best Lawyers 2020 Oklahoma City Litigation – First Amendment Law “Lawyer of the Year”
Pamela H. Goldberg – Best Lawyers 2020 Tulsa Corporate Governance Law “Lawyer of the Year”
Michael D. Graves – Best Lawyers 2020 Tulsa Litigation – Environmental “Lawyer of the Year”
J. Kevin Hayes – Best Lawyers 2020 Tulsa Bet-the-Company Litigation “Lawyer of the Year"
Randall K. McCarthy – Best Lawyers 2020 Oklahoma City Trade Secrets Law "Lawyer of the Year”
Stephen W. Ray –  Best Lawyers 2020 Tulsa Securities Regulation Law "Lawyer of the Year”
James D. Satrom – Best Lawyers 2020 Tulsa Energy Law “Lawyer of the Year”
Michael H. Smith – Best Lawyers 2020 Oklahoma City Patent Law “Lawyer of the Year”

Tulsa Office Best Lawyers in America 2020

Gregory W. Alberty, Real Estate Law
Pamela S. Anderson, Oil & Gas Law
Vaden F. Bales, Real Estate Law
Mark Banner, Commercial Litigation, Energy Law
Mark K. Blongewicz, Commercial Litigation, Insurance Law
Steven A. Broussard, Employment Law-Management, Labor Law-Management, Litigation-Labor & Employment
W. Deke Canada, Commercial Finance Law, Corporate Law
Michael D. Cooke, Banking & Finance Law, Communications Law, Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions Law
Thomas A. Creekmore III, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation-Bankruptcy
Samantha Weyrauch Davis, Trusts & Estates
Robert F. Dougherty, Corporate Law, Real Estate Law
Heather Flynn Earnhart, Family Law
Pamela H. Goldberg, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Corporate Law, Corporate Governance Law 
Michael D. Graves, Environmental Law, Litigation-Environmental
Del L. Gustafson, Corporate Law, Securities/Capital Markets Law, Securities Regulation 
Sarah E. Hansel, Business Organizations (including LLC’s and Partnerships), Corporate Law, Technology Law
James C.T. Hardwick, Commercial Litigation, Natural Resources Law, Oil & Gas Law
J. Kevin Hayes, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Energy Law
Kenneth L. Hunt, Tax Law, Litigation & Controversy-Tax
Brian T. Inbody, Commercial Litigation and Oil and Gas Law
Betsy G. Jackson, Banking & Finance Law, Corporate Law, Corporate Governance Law
Michael T. Keester, Commercial Litigation, Litigation-Construction, Litigation-Municipal 
Daniel R. Ketchum II, Trusts and Estates
James C. Milton, Commercial Litigation, Litigation-Municipal, Litigation-Trusts & Estates, Water Law
P. David Newsome, Corporate Law, Securities/Capital Markets Law, Securities Regulation, Litigation-Securities
William W. O’Connor, Commercial Litigation
James J. Proszek, Communications Law 
Stephen W. Ray, Corporate Compliance Law, Corporate Governance Law, Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions Law, Securities/Capital Markets Law, Securities Regulation 
James M. Reed, Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Bankruptcy, Litigation-Securities
James D. Satrom, Energy Law, Oil & Gas Law
Thomas P. Schroedter, Administrative/Regulatory Law, Energy Law, Oil & Gas Law
Steven W. Soulé, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation-Bankruptcy
Richard A. Wagner II, Family Law
Keith A. Wilkes, Employment Law-Management
D. Kenyon “Ken” Williams, Jr., Litigation-Environmental
Andrew M. Wolov, Tax Law, Trusts & Estates

Oklahoma City Office Best Lawyers in America 2020

​Larry G. Ball, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation-Bankruptcy
Jon A. Epstein, Litigation-First Amendment 
Michael R. Ford, Banking and Finance Law, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Securities/Capital Markets Law
John W. Gile, Family Law
Matthew R. Gile, Family Law 
Kent A. Gilliland, Banking and Finance Law
Daniel J. Glover, Banking and Finance Law, Litigation-Banking and Finance, Real Estate Law
J. Frederick Kempf, Jr., Real Estate Law
Randall K. McCarthy, Copyright Law, Litigation-Intellectual Property, Patent Law, Litigation – Patent, Trademark Law, Trade Secrets Law
Robert D. Nelon, First Amendment Law, Litigation-First Amendment 
Raymond S. Rudnicki, Energy Law
Ralph E. Seals, Jr., Oil & Gas Law
Michael E. Smith, Litigation-Environmental
Michael H. Smith, Patent Law, Trade Secrets Law, Trademark Law
Elaine R. Turner, Employment Law-Management, Litigation-Labor & Employment