Brandon Long and Dara Wanzer Join McAfee & Taft as Litigation Associates

McAfee & Taft, Oklahoma’s largest law firm, has further expanded its litigation practice group with the addition of associate attorneys Brandon P. Long and Dara K. Wanzer.

Brandon Long is a trial lawyer who practices in the areas of labor and employment law and complex business litigation.  Much of his practice is focused on counseling employers on a wide range of employment issues and representing them in all phases of litigation before federal and state courts, regulatory and administrative agencies and arbitration matters.  A portion of his practice is also devoted to complex business litigation, including insurance disputes and the defense of class action lawsuits.

Prior to joining McAfee & Taft, Long most recently worked as a litigation associate in the Dallas office of the international law firm of Baker & McKenzie for two years.  His career experience also includes 10 years of service working in various capacities at the law firm of McKinney & Stringer while earning his associate’s degree in legal assistant studies from Rose State College, a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma, and his Juris Doctor from the Oklahoma City University School of Law.  He began practicing as an associate attorney in 2004 after graduating first in his class in law school.

The Oklahoma native is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association and State Bar of Texas and serves on the board of directors of the Young Lawyers Division of the Oklahoma County Bar Association.  He is admitted to practice in all state courts in Oklahoma and Texas, the U.S. District Courts for the Western and Northern Districts of Oklahoma, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Tenth Circuits. 

Dara Wanzer’s state and federal litigation practice is focused on labor and employment law and general civil litigation, particularly in the areas of energy, healthcare, insurance, products liability defense, and real estate.  She is a member of the Oklahoma and American Bar Associations and is admitted to practice in all state courts in Oklahoma, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Wanzer is a 2005 honors graduate from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, where she was a Royce H. Savage Merit Scholar and served as the managing editor of American Indian Law Review.  Prior to joining McAfee & Taft, she practiced as a litigation associate with another Oklahoma City-based civil practice law firm in the areas of commercial litigation, hospital liability and medical malpractice. 

Active in the community, Wanzer serves on the board of directors of Individual Artists of Oklahoma and volunteers her time at Integris Southwest Medical Center.  In addition to her legal practice at the firm, she also serves as a volunteer attorney for Oklahoma Lawyers for Children, a nonprofit organization that uses the time, talent and resources of qualified pro bono lawyers and others to represent and assist children in the Juvenile Division of the Oklahoma.

McAfee & Taft serves clients throughout the Southwest and nationally in the areas of aviation, banking and finance, business law, corporate and securities, employee benefits, entertainment, environmental law, healthcare, intellectual property, labor and employment, litigation, oil and gas, real estate, and tax and family wealth.  The firm employs over 200 Oklahomans, including 125 attorneys.