McAfee & Taft trial lawyers Ruth Addison and Mary Quinn Cooper are among the recipients of the 2012 Leadership in Law Award presented by The Journal Record. They were among 21 legal professionals honored during the Law Day luncheon on May 1, 2012, at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City, in recognition of their leadership, contributions and achievements both in their community and the legal profession.
Nominations were solicited and accepted statewide — membership in the Oklahoma County Bar Association is not required. Winners were selected by a panel of business and legal professionals.
Ruth Addison
is a trial lawyer with McAfee & Taft and focuses primarily on white collar criminal defense, complex litigation and family law. Prior to joining McAfee & Taft in 2011, she served as an assistant district attorney for Tulsa County where she was responsible for prosecuting felonies, the state’s youngest assistant district attorney. She also holds the distinction of being the youngest graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law at the age of 21.
In addition to her litigation practice, Ruth serves as an adjunct professor of Paralegal Studies and Criminal Justice at ITT Technical Institute in Tulsa. She also serves chair of the Tulsa County Bar Association Diversity Development Committee and has spearheaded the committee's Pipeline Project, an initiative to attract more minorities to the legal profession — not only as lawyers, but also in related professions, the judiciary, paralegals, legal secretaries, law enforcement, police, fire and sheriff’s personnel. She is a frequent speaker to youth in the community on careers in the law and the importance of seeking higher education.
Mary Quinn Cooper
is a nationally recognized and highly regarded trial lawyer who serves as national trial counsel for major corporations and defends products liability claims and class actions across the country. For the last 25 years she has represented Ford Motor Company and General Motors nationally in challenging cases with high exposure. Mary has also tried cases for various other manufacturers and Fortune 500 companies and has defended clients in professional malpractice matters.
In addition to being a frequent speaker locally and nationally on trial practice issues, Mary chairs the admissions and grievances committee of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma and is an appointed member of the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Professional Responsibility Tribunal, a panel whose function is to conduct hearings on formal complaints filed against lawyers and on applications for reinstatement to the practice of law in the State of Oklahoma. She also received a mayoral appointment to serve as a civil service commissioner.
Active in the community, Mary currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board for the University of Tulsa College of Law and on the board of the St. Philip Neri Catholic Newman Center on the University of Tulsa campus. She also volunteers for Christ the King Catholic Church and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Mary previously served as chairman of the Bishop Kelley High School Advisory Council and chaired the Bishop Kelley Annual Fund Drive, Bishop Kelley Auction, and Saint Francis of Assisi Tuition Assistance Fund Gala. She also chaired the inaugural Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Gala, which broke records for the amount of money raised for a first-time event. In 2009, Mary was awarded the Association of Fundraising Professional’s “Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser” award.
Prior to joining McAfee & Taft, Mary was a partner with Tulsa-based Eldridge Cooper Steichen & Leach, a corporate law firm she co-founded in 2002.
Previous honorees
Since the award's inception in 2006, 25 McAfee & Taft attorneys have been recipients of The Journal Record's Leadership in Law Award. Honored in the inaugural edition were John N. Hermes, Frank D. Hill, James Dudley Hyde, Michael E. Joseph, John A. Kenney, N. Martin Stringer and Erin M. Van Laanen. Honored in 2007 were Mark E. Burget, Myrna Schack Latham, Richard D. Nix, Elizabeth D. Tyrrell and Jennifer Wheeler. Honored in 2009 were Reuben Davis, Maria E. Gonzalez, Brandon P. Long, Sally Mock, Jay B. Shanker and Barry L. Smith. Honored in 2010 were Rachel Blue, Michael J. LaBrie, James C. McMillin and Chris A. Paul. Honored in 2011 were Sam Fulkerson, Gerald Hilsher and Susan Shields.