John R. Barker

John Barker is a shareholder in the Tulsa office of GableGotwals and has more than 40 years of legal experience in both law firm and corporate settings.  After 30 years with GableGotwals, John joined ONEOK, Inc., and ONEOK Partners, L.P., in December 2004, where he served  as their General Counsel, Senior Vice President and Assistant Secretary.  After retiring from ONEOK, John rejoined GableGotwals in January 2012 to focus his legal practice on general commercial business matters, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, securities, public equity and debt offerings and finance.

John has provided legal counsel on business and transactional matters, mergers and acquisitions and commercial matters, including sales and acquisitions of significant assets and public securities offerings. He has significant experience in counseling and legal services involving corporate governance, SEC filings, and public stock and debt offerings. Over the years, he has provided general business advice to various corporations, sole proprietorships and business organizations and for their management and Boards of Directors. John has also represented banks and financial institutions in Oklahoma relating to all aspects of loans, workouts, bankruptcies and real estate. In addition, he has represented large out-of-state lenders relating to real estate financing for commercial developments, including shopping centers, apartment buildings and office buildings.

John has been very active in and has served in leadership and committee positions with the Oklahoma Bar Association, the Tulsa County Bar Association, the Tulsa County Probate and Title Lawyers Association and The Oklahoma Bar Foundation.

John has been very active in the Tulsa Community holding multiple leadership and board positions including the Tulsa Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Jenks Public Schools Foundation, Jenks Public Schools Auction Committee, St. Simeon’s Episcopal Home Board, St. Simeon’s Episcopal Foundation Board, George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center, Inc., the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa, the ONEOK Foundation and The Center for American and International Law. In addition, John served in the United States Army which included a tour in the Republic of South Vietnam.

Gerard M. D’Emilio

Gerard D’Emilio is an associate in the Oklahoma City office of GableGotwals, where his practice focuses on litigation. A former Gable summer associate, Gerard clerked for the Honorable David L. Russell in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma before joining the Firm. He also served as a Judicial Extern for the Honorable Robert E. Bacharach in the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Gerard graduated first in his class from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, having held that rank every semester. At OU Law, he served as an Articles Editor on the Oklahoma Law Review, a member of the National Moot Court team, a Dean’s Leadership Fellow, and President of OU Law’s chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Gerard earned numerous honors during law school, including induction into the Order of the Coif and the National Order of Scribes, the Nathan Scarritt Prize, the S.T. Bledsoe Memorial Prize, the James F. Hawes Memorial Cup, and sixteen American Jurisprudence Awards for the highest course grade. He was named a 2017 Holloway Scholar by Oklahoma City’s chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

Gerard received his bachelor’s degrees in politics and vocal performance from Oberlin College in 2012, and his master’s degree in vocal performance from Westminster Choir College in 2014. Prior to law school, Gerard enjoyed a career as a professional opera singer.

Publications

• Gerard M. D’Emilio, Frontier Feudalism: Agrarian Populism Meets Future Interest Arcana in the Land of Manifest Destiny, 70 Okla. L. Rev. 943 (2018).
• Ronald Kahn and Gerard M. D’Emilio, The Jurisprudence of Justice Scalia: Common-Law Judging Behind an Originalist Façade, in THE CONSERVATIVE REVOLUTION OF ANTONIN SCALIA (David Schultz & Howard Schweber eds.) (2018).