Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work. Stephen King

Lance Bryan is a skilled litigator and construction lawyer with experience helping clients resolve construction claims, real estate and contract disputes, and commercial loan defaults. Lance represents commercial lenders, developers, owners, contractors, suppliers, manufacturers, design professionals, retailers and electric utilities. Skilled in sarcasm and adept at calm and concise communication, Lance is equally capable at trial, mediation, arbitration and handling appeals. Lance works closely with business owners, company officers and in-house counsel to develop and execute strategies consistent with budgets and business objectives. Lance is frequently called on to evaluate cases early and has experience using mock juries and focus groups to evaluate risk and fine-tune trial strategy in high-exposure cases. 

Lance regularly represents clients in cases involving:

  • Breach of contract and business torts
  • Construction defect, delay, and collection claims
  • Real estate litigation, including commercial property foreclosures, receiverships, and evictions
  • Environmental litigation
  • Significant property damage and personal injuries

  • Represented numerous owners, contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers in real-time management and litigation of construction disputes involving breach of contract, delay and defect, payment and collection, mechanic and materialman’s liens, professional negligence, and job-site injuries and fatalities.
  • ​Obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in judgments representing various local and national banks, lenders, credit associations, and servicers in commercial loan and real estate litigation, foreclosures, evictions, lender liability and receivership actions.
  • Trial counsel in numerous jury trials involving catastrophic property damage, major personal injury, subrogation, and statutory non-disclosure claims, including as trial counsel for public utility company that won multi-million-dollar jury verdict against telecommunications company on a contract claim.
  • Lead counsel for global EPC contractor in month-long arbitration with electrical and mechanical subcontractor over a $20 million dispute arising from construction of a $340 million processing facility. The multi-claim dispute involved a panel of 3 arbitrators, discovery from proprietary databases, and management of a team of attorneys, experts, and technology vendors.
  • Obtained $25 million judgment for bank in action against foreign borrowers and guarantors and assisted with reciprocal enforcement and receivership proceedings for collection of judgment in foreign jurisdictions.
  • Obtained and successfully defended appeal of judgment for specialty equipment supplier in a multi-party, multi-year dispute arising from construction of a processing facility, ultimately recovering 100% of amount sought and 6 years of interest in addition to attorney fees.
  • Successfully represented owner and developer of a hotel and convention center in a dispute with an architect that resulted in a favorable judgment and successful appeal on a matter of first impression under Oklahoma law on whether a party may waive its right to object to arbitration by participating in an arbitration.
  • After 6 years of litigation, won partial summary judgment and obtained successful settlement for REIT and loan servicer on a borrower’s $6 million dollar lender liability claim for breach of fiduciary duty and conversion.
  • Executed a successful strategy for a Fortune 500 company to work out and resolve scores of contract and lien claims by subcontractors and suppliers after the general contractor filed bankruptcy and defaulted on a series of retail construction projects.
  • Evaluation, selection, and use of eDiscovery, AI, and trial presentation platforms to economically collect, efficiently manage, and persuasively present electronic evidence.

  • Best Lawyers®, Tulsa, Litigation – Construction and Employment Law – Management, 2014-2024
  • Best Lawyers®, Tulsa, “Lawyer of the Year” for Litigation – Construction, 2022
  • Super Lawyers®, Construction Litigation, 2009-2023

  • Tulsa County Bar Association; formerly served on the Professionalism and Civility Committee
  • Former certified volunteer mediator with the Oklahoma Alternative Dispute Resolution System
  • Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., Oklahoma Chapter, member
  • Frequent speaker and writer on topics including construction law, real property foreclosure, depositions and discovery, mechanic and materialman’s liens.

  • "I love being a part of DSDA because I get to spend my efforts each day focused on doing good work for our clients alongside other great lawyers with whom I truly enjoy working. We have second-to-none resources to get our work done, including experienced paralegals, powerful document management tools, top-notch professionals in accounting, information resources, and marketing, and an ever-growing suite of software and technology tools. The work is challenging, but there’s nowhere else I’d rather do it."

Education

  • J.D., with honors, The University of Texas School of Law, Board of Advocates, 2003
  • B.S., summa cum laude, Political Science, Economics, Oklahoma State University, 2000

Bar & Court Admissions

  • Oklahoma, 2003
  • Texas, 2004
  • United States District Court Northern District of Oklahoma
  • United States District Court Western District of Oklahoma
  • United States District Court Eastern District of Oklahoma
  • United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit