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Tulsa Business & Legal News named McAfee & Taft attorneys Ruth Addison and Christina Vaughn to its 2013 class of The Tulsa 40, honoring young professionals who've made a positive impact on the business and civic communities before the age of 40. 

“As a CPA and a lawyer, Keith exemplifies the best both professions have to offer, both substantively in the skill sets he brings to the professions and ethically in his approach to complex issues. I am proud he is a member of both professions, but even more proud he is a member of this firm,” said Richard Craig in a letter nominating Peters.

Mark Christiansen, one of the region’s preeminent oil and gas lawyers, has joined McAfee & Taft and will co-lead the firm’s Energy and Oil & Gas Group. “Mark has distinguished himself as a trusted go-to lawyer and advisor to oil & gas companies of all sizes, including many of the nation’s largest energy companies,” said Richard Nix, managing director.

More than 254,000 law firms were considered in the selection process, but less than one-half of one percent of firms across the nation made the grade. McAfee & Taft leads all Oklahoma firms with 103 of its attorneys top-rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

McAfee & Taft received top-tier rankings in 47 different areas of legal practice in the 2013 edition of “Best Law Firms,” a comprehensive compilation of rankings of law firms published by U.S. News and World Report and Best Lawyers.

EmployerLINC.com is McAfee & Taft's dedicated website to providing employers and human resources professionals with the latest legal information, news and commentary on developments in labor, employment and employee benefits laws and the myriad of important issues facing employers today.

McAfee & Taft trial and appellate lawyer Michael F. Smith will serve as chairperson-elect for the 2013 calendar year and automatically become chairperson of the Appellate Practice Section for the 2014 calendar year.

Susan Shields, a shareholder and tax and family wealth attorney, will lead the 63-year-old nonprofit organization in advancing its mission of “lawyers transforming lives through the promotion of justice, funding of critical legal services, and advancement of knowledge of the law.”

The board of directors of McAfee & Taft have elected Richard D. Nix to lead the state’s largest law firm for a third consecutive three-year term, a first in the firm’s history. Nix, an employee benefits attorney, first began serving as the firm’s managing director in 2007.

The commercial transactions attorney and recent leader of the firm's Real Estate Group joins Michael Blake, Jennifer Callahan, Michael Joseph, Michael Lauderdale, Rick Mullins and managing director Richard Nix on McAfee & Taft's seven-member board.

The shareholders of McAfee & Taft, Oklahoma’s largest law firm, have elected employee benefits attorney Brandon P. Long and trial lawyers Andrew L. Richardson and Harold C. Zuckerman as fellow shareholders, effective January 1, 2013. The announcement was made by managing director Richard D. Nix.

McAfee & Taft earned top rankings in the areas of corporate/commercial, energy and natural resources, intellectual property, labor/employment, litigation and real estate law, and had more lawyers named to the prestigious list than any other law firm in the state.

With the continuing overwhelming interest in its recent seminars on Health Care Reform, McAfee & Taft's Employee Benefits Group has made available videos of the presentations from those events. It's the first time ever the firm has produced videos from any of its live seminars.

Benchmark Litigation recognized McAfee & Taft as the 2012 Oklahoma "Firm of the Year" for litigation during the inaugural Benchmark Litigation Awards. McAfee & Taft was also a finalist in two other categories, including "Oklahoma Case of the Year" and John Hermes for "Oklahoma Litigator of the Year."

McAfee & Taft attorneys Charlie Plumb, Brandon Long and Keith Peters take a comprehensive look at all the issues and risks that come into play when misclassifying independent contractors and what practical steps businesses can do to take corrective action now.

McAfee & Taft earned top marks in the 2013 edition of Benchmark Litigation, the definitive guide to America’s leading business litigation firms and attorneys. In addition, 13 of the firm’s attorneys – the most of any law firm in Oklahoma – were singled out for recognition.

In the just released 2012 Oklahoma edition, <i>Super Lawyers</i> recognized more attorneys from McAfee & Taft as the state’s top attorneys than any other law firm, with 65 named to its "Oklahoma Super Lawyers" list and 25 named to its "Oklahoma Rising Stars" list.

Honored as "Lawyer of the Year" for their respective practice areas were Rachel Blue, Jennifer Callahan, Robert Dace, Reuben Davis, Cliff Dougherty, Charles Greenough, Lloyd Hardin, Michael Joseph, Michael LaBrie, Kathy Neal, Anthony Rahhal (named in two categories), Reid Robison, Patricia Rogers, Pete Van Dyke and Erin Van Laanen.

A record 100 attorneys from McAfee & Taft were selected by their peers for inclusion in the just-released 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, more than any other Oklahoma law firm. Ten McAfee & Taft lawyers have been named to the prestigious list for the first time. 

McAfee & Taft attorney Bill Hall took the plunge over the side of SandRidge Energy's 30-story corporate tower after colleagues at the firm pledged more than $1,250 to send him “Over the Edge,” in support of Special Olympics Oklahoma.

Hundreds of business owners, executives, benefits managers and human resources professionals gathered in Oklahoma City on August 22nd and Tulsa on August 23rd for McAfee & Taft’s seminar titled “Health Care Reform + Supreme Court Ruling = Now What?" Nearly 800 people registered for the two events.

McAfee & Taft is proud to sponsor “Tee Off for TEEM,” a golf tournament benefiting The Education and Employment Ministry, on September 27th at the Rose Creek Golf Club in Edmond, Oklahoma. Oklahoma City-based TEEM is an interfaith non-profit organization that provides education, job training and placement assistance, and social services to those in need.

The firm's donation to the University of Oklahoma College of Law establishes an endowment that will provide $10,000 in underwriting funds each year for the Oklahoma Law Review’s annual symposium as well as fund a new café on the first floor of the law school that will be a central meeting point for law students, faculty and staff.

McAfee & Taft’s Agriculture and Equine Industry Group is dedicated to representing and protecting the specialized interests, rights and assets of hard-working individuals, families, public and private companies, and other organizations engaged in agriculture and livestock-based businesses.

Our Aerospace Industry Group provides comprehensive legal and business consulting services to the aerospace and aviation industries, including aircraft and component manufacturers, service and repair companies, aerospace technology developers, airparks, aircraft owners, and aircraft sales, leasing and financing companies.

The Tulsa Business Journal published a front-page feature story on McAfee & Taft's steady, strategic growth in the last 60 years that has resulted in its emergence on the National Law Journal's list of the nation's top 250 law firms, the first Oklahoma firm to be included.

McAfee & Taft is a 2012 honoree of Tulsa Business Journal's Employees’ Choice Award as a result of high ratings by its Tulsa attorneys and staff. “Of all the honors that we've received this year, this one is extra special,” said managing director Richard Nix.

McAfee & Taft is Oklahoma's only law firm to be named to
both "Go To Law Firms of the World's Leading Companies"
and the National Law Journal's list of the nation's top 250 firms.

Condemnation, also known as eminent domain, is a legal process whereby a governmental entity or utility exercises its sovereign right to take all or part of an owner’s private land for public use. McAfee & Taft lawyers have a proven track record of protecting the rights of landowners and maximizing the “just compensation” due to them under the law.