Prior to his retirement from McAfee & Taft in January 2025, Joel Stafford served as a trusted tax advisor for nearly 45 years, initially as a certified public accountant and later as a lawyer. He began his legal career at McAfee & Taft in 1989, where he learned to practice tax law from the best tax lawyers in Oklahoma. He left the firm in 2000 — first working as small town lawyer serving local entrepreneurs and energy industry service companies, and later serving as senior tax counsel at Devon Energy Corporation — and rejoined the firm’s Tax & Family Wealth Group in 2022.
Early in his career, Joel served as the controller for a closely held Oklahoma-based oil and gas company. When he later attended law school, he earned the rare distinction of graduating first in both his J.D. and LL.M (Taxation) graduating classes. Over the course of his career, Joel’s legal and tax experience was focused primarily on corporate and partnership transactional planning and on tax audit and controversy matters.
In addition to practicing law, Joel served as an adjunct professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, the Oklahoma City University School of Law, and the East Central University Department of Accounting throughout his career. After rejoining McAfee & Taft in 2022 , he taught Oil & Gas Taxation at OCU, coached OU Law’s National Tax Moot Court team, and taught courses in Individual Income Taxation, Corporate Income Taxation, and Partnership Income Taxation at OU Law.
Joel’s achievements earned him inclusion in Best Lawyers (tax law; tax litigation and controversy).