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320 South Boston Ave. Ste 500
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103-3725
Phone: 918-582-1211

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201 Robert S. Kerr Ave., Ste 700
Oklahoma City, OK 73102-4203
Phone: 405-319-3500

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West Legal Directory Profile - Firmsite Michael Minnis 
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Of Counsel
phone (405) 319-3503
fax (405) 319-3509
email mminnis@dsda.com

Michael Minnis graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism in 1966 and subsequently received his Juris Doctor from the University of Oklahoma School of Law in 1969. For more than twenty-five years, his practice has concentrated in the areas of Media and First Amendment Law and Indian Law. Mr. Minnis is active in numerous community organizations and professional associations. He also served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps as Trial/Defense Counsel for the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Air Force Reserve. He was appointed as Judge of the Court of Appeals Temporary Division No. 174 in 1982, and served as Chief Judge of the Town of Valleybrook 1982-1983.

Mr. Minnis specializes in the areas of Media and First Amendment Law and Indian Law .

Year Joined Organization:
2004
Areas of Practice:
Media and First Amendment Law
Indian Law
Litigation
Litigation Percentage:
75% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
Bar Admissions:
Oklahoma, 1969
California, 1972
District of Columbia, 1980
U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit, 2003
U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit, 1976
U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, 1981
U.S. District Court Western District of Oklahoma, 1974
U.S. District Court Northern District of Oklahoma, 1976
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Oklahoma, 2005
U.S. Supreme Court, 1976
Court of Indian Offenses, 1985
Potawatomi Indian Tribal Court, 1986
Education:
University of Oklahoma College of Law, Norman, OK , 1969
Juris Doctor
Honors: American Jurisprudence, Insurance Award


University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, 1966
Bachelor of Arts
Major:  Journalism


Published Works:
Civil Discovery in Oklahoma Revisited under Discovery Code, 18 Tulsa Law Journal, 1982


House Bill 1912; New Oklahoma Discovery Code - Legal History, 53 Oklahoma Bar Journal 1291, 1982


Oklahoma, Current Developments Media Libel and Invasion of Privacy, MDRC 50 - State Survey, 1982


Judicially-Suggested Harassment of Indian Tribes: The Potawatomis Revisit Moe & Colville, American Indian Law Review 16, 1991


Representative Cases:
Continental Cas. Co. v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., 860 F.2d 970 (C.A.10 (Okla.) 1988)
Oklahoma Pub. Co. v. Miskovsky, 654 P.2d 596 (Okla. 1982)
Miskovsky v. Oklahoma Pub. Co., 103 S.Ct. 235 (U.S.Okla. 1982)
Oklahoma Pub. Co. v. District Court In and For Oklahoma County, 97 S.Ct. 1045 (U.S.Okla. 1977)
Oklahoma Tax Com'n v. Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, 111 S.Ct. 905 (U.S.Okla. 1991)
Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe of Oklahoma v. Oklahoma Tax Com'n, 888 F.2d 1303 (C.A.10 (Okla.) 1989)
U.S. ex rel. Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe of Oklahoma v. Enterprise Management Consultants, Inc., 883 F.2d 886 (C.A.10 (Okla.) 1989)
Enterprise Management Consultants, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Hodel, 883 F.2d 890 (C.A.10 (Okla.) 1989)
U.S. ex rel. Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe of Oklahoma v. Enterprise Management Consultants, Inc., 734 F.Supp. 455 (W.D.Okla. 1990)
Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe of Oklahoma v. Oklahoma Tax Com'n, 1988 WL 122606 (W.D.Okla. 1988)
Oklahoma Pub. Co. v. District Court of Oklahoma County, 555 P.2d 1286 (Okla. 1976)
McCormack v. Oklahoma Pub. Co., 613 P.2d 737 (Okla. 1980)
Council on Judicial Complaints v. Maley, 607 P.2d 1180 (Okla. 1980)
Oklahoma Pub. Co. v. Martin, 618 P.2d 944 (Okla. 1980)
Taylor v. Miskovsky, 640 P.2d 959 (Okla. 1981)
Oklahoma Pub. Co. v. U. S., 515 F.Supp. 1255 (W.D.Okla. 1981)
Oklahoma Pub. Co. v. Standard Metals Corp., 541 F.Supp. 1109 (W.D.Okla. 1982)
Miskovsky v. Oklahoma Pub. Co., 654 P.2d 587 (Okla. 1982)
Points v. Oklahoma Pub. Co., 672 P.2d 1146 (Okla. 1983)
Oklahoma Hosp. Ass'n v. Oklahoma Pub. Co., 748 F.2d 1421 (C.A.10 (Okla.) 1984)
Oklahoma Pub. Co. v. City of Moore, 682 P.2d 754 (Okla. 1984)
Association of Independent Television Stations, Inc. v. College Football Ass'n, 637 F.Supp. 1289 (W.D.Okla. 1986)
McCain v. KTVY, Inc., 738 P.2d 960 (Okla.App. Div. 3 1987)
In re Initiative Petition No. 347 State Question No. 639, 813 P.2d 1019 (Okla. 1991)
City of Lawton v. Moore, 868 P.2d 690 (Okla. 1993)
Atchison, T. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Littleton Leasing & Inv. Co., Inc., 582 F.2d 1237 (C.A.10 (Okla.) 1978)
S.E.C. v. Switzer, 590 F.Supp. 756 (W.D.Okla. 1984)
S.E.C. v. Platt, 565 F.Supp. 1244 (W.D.Okla. 1983)
Young v. Oklahoma City, 524 P.2d 22 (Okla. 1974)
Smith v. Oklahoma City, 513 P.2d 1327 (Okla.Crim.App. 1973)
Classes/Seminars Taught:
Moderator, Seminar on Expert and Opinion Testimony, Federal Bar Association, Oklahoma City Chapter, June 6, 1979


Speaker, Society of Professional Journalists (Sigma Delta Chi), Oklahoma City Chapter, September 13, 1979


Appearance, Radio Talk Show (Bob Durgin, Host), KTOK, November 26, 1979


Moderator and Organizer, First Amendment Panel Discussion, Oklahoma Bar Association Annual Convention, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, November 30, 1979


Speaker, Law of Libel, Oklahoma Broadcasters Association Winter Meeting, General Session, March 1, 1980


Moderator and Speaker, First Amendment Panel Discussion, Oklahoma Bar Association, Bar/Media Relations Committee, Annual Bar Association Convention, Tulsa, Oklahoma, December 5, 1980


Speaker, Law of Libel, School of Journalism, University of Oklahoma, February 25, 1981


Speaker, Updating Media Coverage of Juveniles, Oklahoma Press Association News Clinic, April 12, 1981


Speaker, Law of Libel, Associated Press Oklahoma News Executives Annual Meeting, Western Hills Lodge, June 6, 1981


Speaker, Legislation Recently Passed by State House and Senate, Capital Hill Business and Professional Women's Club, October 20, 1981


Speaker, What Do You Have to Fear from Invasion of Privacy?, Oklahoma Press Association News Clinic, April 4, 1982


Speaker, Law of Libel, Oklahoma United Press International State Convention, May 1, 1982


Oral Presentation, The First Amendment and Related Protections of Free Speech and Press, Oklahoma Publishing Company, May 11, 1983


Speaker, Panel Discussion of Questions Regarding Libel, Slander and Privacy, Region IV Radio-Television News Directors Association Conference, August 27, 1983


Panel Speaker, Law of Libel, Sigma Delta Chi, Oklahoma City Chapter, August 31, 1983


Speaker, Ceremony Honoring Federal Judicial Service of Stephen S. Chandler, Luther Bohanon and Fred Daugherty before the Honorable Luther B. Eubanks, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, October 6, 1983


Speaker, Jim Richstad's Public Affairs Reporting Class on Open Records and the Moore, Oklahoma, Police Records Case, October 13, 1983


Speaker, Bad Words Lead to Dangerous Sentences, Oklahoma Press Association News Clinic, April 8, 1984


Presented Oral Discussion, Access to Places and Records in Oklahoma, The Daily Oklahoman and Oklahoma City Times, June 13, 1984


Lecture, Department of Journalism Class, Libel and Right of Privacy, Central State University, December 10, 1986


Speaker, Oklahoma City University Chapter of Sigma Delta Chi, October 22, 1987


Lecture, Broadcast Libel and FCC Rules and Regulations, Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters Winter Meeting, February 12, 1988


Panel Discussion, Whose First? The First Amendment and the Media, Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters Annual Convention, March 26, 1988


Lecture, Freedom of Information Association, Central State University Society of Professional Journalists, April 11, 1989


Speaker, Freedom of Information Association, Sigma Delta Chi, May 13, 1989


Lecture, Libel and Slander, Central State University, Department of Political Science, May 17, 1989


Speaker, Issues of Open Records, the Privacy Act and the Accessibility of Government Information by the Public, International Credit Association of Oklahoma City, October 10, 1989


Speaker, The Potawatomi Cigarette Tax Case: The Background and What the Future May Hold in Store, Oklahoma Indian Bar Association, October 26, 1990


Participant, Panel Discussion, Taxation, Sovereignty Symposium IV - The Circles of Sovereignty, June 12, 1991


Honors and Awards:
First Amendment Award, Society of Professional Journalists, 1996


Recipient, Commendation, Federal Bar Association, Oklahoma City Chapter


Volunteer of the Year, St. John's Parish, 2001


Presidential Citation for Outstanding Service, Rotary Club 29, 2000


Professional Associations and Memberships:
Federal Bar Association, 1976 - Present
Member, Past President, Oklahoma City


Rotary International, 1985 - 2003
Member, Club 29


Oklahoma Bar Association, 1969 - Present
Member


Oklahoma County Bar Association
Member


Past Employment Positions:
United States Marine Corps, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Trial/Defense Counsel


United States Air Force Reserve, Lieutenant Colonel


Court of Appeals Temporary Division No. 174, Judge


Town of Valleybrook, Chief Judge, 1982 - 1983


Fraternities/Sororities:
Delta Tau Delta
Sigma Delta Chi
Birth Information:
February 22, 1944, Wichita, Kansas, United States of America

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