September 15, 2025 | GableGotwals is pleased to announce that former summer associates Trisha Bunce, Logan Norton, CJ Pollins, and Madison Taylor have joined the Firm as litigation Associates.

Trisha Bunce is an Associate in the Firm’s Oklahoma City office, where her practice focuses on commercial litigation, bankruptcy law, and Native American law. At the University of Oklahoma College of Law, Trisha received the Joel Jankowsky Outstanding Graduate Award and was involved with numerous student organizations, including Oklahoma Law Review, the Native American Law Student Association, the Federal Bar Association, and Phi Alpha Delta. She was a finalist in the New York State Bar Association National Moot Court Competition, finishing second in the region and qualifying for the national-level tournament.

Logan Norton is an Associate in the Firm’s Tulsa office, where his practice focuses on commercial litigation, employment law, energy law, and healthcare. Logan graduated with highest honors from The University of Tulsa College of Law, where he served as an elected delegate for the Student Bar Association and participated in numerous student organizations such as the Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law Society, the Health Law Society, and the Business Law Society. He also earned CALI Excellence for the Future Awards in Criminal Law & Administration and Artificial Intelligence & Law. While in law school, Logan completed the Public Defender Clinic with the Tulsa County Public Defender’s Office, where he acquired an academic LLI and represented incarcerated individuals before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board through Project Commutation.

CJ Pollins is an Associate in the Firm’s Oklahoma City office, where his practice focuses on a wide range of matters involving commercial law, energy, and sports, media, and entertainment. While in law school, he was on the Oklahoma City University Law Review Editorial Board as a Resource Editor, a member of the ABA Moot Court Team, and externed for the Honorable Sarah Hall and the Honorable Janice Loyd at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Prior to joining the Firm, he served as a consultant for United Youth Football League and worked as a high school teacher and football coach in Mansfield, Texas, co-developing a financial literacy curriculum and coaching student-athletes, including several who earned collegiate scholarships and state honors.

Madison Taylor is an Associate in the Firm’s Tulsa office, where her practice focuses on matters involving medical malpractice, oil and gas law, commercial law, and Native American law. At the University of Oklahoma College of Law, she received the Student Bar Association Prize for outstanding contributions to the student body, the Professional Responsibility Award, and was named Outstanding 3L. Madison was also recognized as a 1L Moot Court Distinguished Speaker and participated in multiple competition teams. She was active in several student organizations, serving as the Student Body President of the Student Bar Association, as a Negotiations Assistant for the Board of Advocates, and as an Articles Editor for the Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal. 

About GableGotwals
GableGotwals® is a full-service law firm with 100 attorneys and more than 70 other business professionals in Oklahoma and Texas. We represent a diversified client base across the nation, and our connections and reach are global. Fortune 500 corporations, privately owned companies, entrepreneurs, foundations, and individuals entrust us every day with the stewardship and strategic management of their legal challenges.

Each summer, GableGotwals hosts 1L and 2L students who gain valuable experience alongside our attorneys through hands-on legal work, exposure to a broad range of practice areas, and meaningful opportunities to connect with our people and culture. The program provides opportunities for both the Firm and the candidate to get to know each other. The program emphasizes integrating law students into the practice of law. For more information, click here.

August 28, 2025 | GableGotwals is pleased to announce that Hillary Stuart has joined the Tulsa office as Of Counsel.

Hillary has nearly 15 years of litigation, government investigation, and military experience. She advises clients and handles matters involving white-collar crimes, corporate investigations, cybersecurity and data privacy, administrative and regulatory law, employment law, and governmental compliance.

Prior to joining the Firm, Hillary served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Washington and was the district’s Military Liaison, consulting on military-related matters nationwide and coordinating with the Department of Justice Civil Division on claims involving Department of Defense facilities and personnel. She led national and local training initiatives, mentored military Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys, and prosecuted procurement and government services fraud.

Hillary is a Major in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s Corps. She currently serves as a Command Judge Advocate, advising command teams on criminal actions, administrative law, government compliance, FOIA, employment law, and national security law. She also oversees legal reviews and investigations of civilian and active-duty employment law issues, equal opportunity cases, and sexual harassment complaints. During her nearly 10-year active-duty military career, Hillary was a defense attorney, prosecutor, administrative law attorney, and claims attorney. She deployed to Afghanistan with the 1st Cavalry Division and was stationed in Germany, Texas, and Washington.

Hillary’s experience complements the Firm’s robust Governmental and Administrative Law Practice, which includes two former U.S. Attorneys, two former federal prosecutors, the former Deputy General Counsel in the Executive Office of Governor J. Kevin Stitt, former Assistant Attorney General and Civil Rights Enforcement Chief of Oklahoma, and multiple former Oklahoma state and federal judges.

About GableGotwals
GableGotwals® is a full-service law firm with 100 attorneys and more than 70 other business professionals in Oklahoma and Texas. We represent a diversified client base across the nation, and our connections and reach are global. Fortune 500 corporations, privately owned companies, entrepreneurs, foundations, and individuals entrust us every day with the stewardship and strategic management of their legal challenges.

June 9, 2025 | By:  Scott Kiplinger and Gerard D’Emilio

As occurs often in America’s courts, employers move for summary judgment on employees’ discrimination claims. The analytical road for most of these motions is familiar:

1. the employees need to show they were terminated under circumstances giving rise to an inference of discrimination based on a protected characteristic,
2. the employers need to produce a non-discriminatory reason for the terminations, and
3. the employees must proffer evidence exposing that rationale as a sham.

But for certain employees in certain courts, including the Tenth Circuit, the first hurdle was higher. That is, “majority group” employees – like white, male, or straight workers – not only needed to raise a discriminatory inference, but also demonstrate “background circumstances” suggesting they worked for the unusual employers who discriminated against the majority. Thus, members of majority groups aiming to bring wrongful termination suits under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bore a heavier burden than their minority-group counterparts.

That ended last week. In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Jackson, the United States Supreme Court held that the threshold burden for surviving summary judgment is the same for all plaintiffs, irrespective of group membership. Majority group plaintiffs, then, are no longer required to show additional “background circumstances” to bring Title VII employment discrimination claims.

The case – Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services – involved a straight woman (Marlean Ames) who worked for Ohio’s Department of Youth Services for 15 years, eventually rising from assistant to program administrator. But in 2019, the Department denied her a promotion, hiring instead a gay candidate, and demoted her to a previous position with half the pay, replacing her with another gay candidate. Ames sued, alleging discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (a form of sex discrimination). At the district and appellate levels, her employer won summary judgment based on Ames’ failure to show “background circumstances” suggesting the Department discriminates against straight workers.

The Supreme Court reversed, striking heightened evidentiary standards for majority member groups, like the “background circumstances” standard at issue. The Court explained that Title VII prohibits discrimination against all employees on the basis of certain characteristics – with no distinction as to whether they are members of a minority or majority group. Imposing a heightened evidentiary standard on majority employees contravened Title VII’s focus on the individual, not the group.

Looking Toward the Future

Before Ames, the Tenth Circuit, which includes Oklahoma, was one of a number of federal appellate courts to impose this “background circumstances” standard on majority member plaintiffs. These courts reasoned use of the standard was appropriate because employers typically discriminated against minority or historically disadvantaged employees, and not majority or historically privileged employees. After Ames, this standard is no longer an impediment: any plaintiff who can offer facts raising an inference of discrimination based on a protected characteristic, like sex, can unlock the courthouse doors and force an employer to explain the legitimate, business reasons for its actions.

Employers should prepare for increased litigation in the wake of Ames. Beyond lowering the barriers to suit, the Court said, in one voice, the rationale animating the “background circumstances” standard doesn’t change Title VII’s plain text and its protection of the individual, rather than the group. If an employer has hiring (or any other) practices that either explicitly or implicitly consider whether employees or applicants belong to minority or historically marginalized groups, those practices may be challenged by majority employees. Employers should review internal policies and practices accordingly – and, as necessary, seek legal counsel for instituting best practices.

In addition to internal hiring practices, employers should anticipate claims of discrimination with respect to disciplinary and termination decisions. Now is the time for employers to ensure they have policies and practices in place to document their legitimate business reasons for any adverse employment decisions. Further, employers should train supervisors and managers to understand and appropriately implement those policies and practices to avoid claims of discrimination.

The Alert was prepared in collaboration with the Employment & Labor Law Group in a continuing effort to keep our clients informed of the transitions of law within the areas they operate. For questions regarding this development, or any other employment and labor questions, please contact your GableGotwals attorney or a member of our Employment & Labor Law Group.

Scott Kiplinger
405-568-3317
skiplinger@gablelaw.com

Gerard D’Emilio
405-568-3318
gdemilio@gablelaw.com

This alert is provided as a summary for information purposes. It does not contain legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. It is not intended or written to be used and may not be used by any person to avoid penalties imposed under Oklahoma laws. The information provided should not be taken as an indication of future legal results; any stated information should not be acted upon without consulting legal counsel.

November 7, 2024 | Best Lawyers®, for the 14th consecutive year, announced the “Best Law Firms” rankings. GableGotwals is ranked in the 2025 list regionally in 51 practice areas. Firms in the “Best Law Firms” list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.

GableGotwals received the following rankings:

Metropolitan Tier 1

Oklahoma City

• Administrative / Regulatory Law
• Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
• Bet-the-Company Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Construction Law
• Criminal Defense: White-Collar
• Energy Law
• Government Relations Practice
• Insurance Law
• Litigation – Banking & Finance
• Litigation – Bankruptcy
• Litigation – Environmental
• Litigation – Insurance (NEW)
• Litigation – Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy)
• Litigation – Securities (NEW)
• Litigation – Trusts & Estates
• Oil & Gas Law
• Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants

Tulsa

• Appellate Practice
• Banking and Finance Law
• Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
• Bet-the-Company Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Copyright Law
• Corporate Law
• Energy Law
• Family Law
• Gaming Law
• Health Care Law
• Insurance Law
• Land Use & Zoning Law
• Litigation – Banking & Finance
• Litigation – Bankruptcy
• Litigation – ERISA
• Litigation – Patent
• Litigation – Real Estate
• Litigation – Trusts & Estates
• Natural Resources Law
• Oil & Gas Law
• Patent Law
• Real Estate Law
• Securities / Capital Markets Law
• Technology Law
• Trademark Law
• Trust & Estates Law

Metropolitan Tier 2

Houston

• Commercial Litigation (NEW)

Oklahoma City

• Banking and Finance Law
• Corporate Governance Law
• Corporate Law
• Litigation – ERISA
• Litigation – Mergers & Acquisitions
• Litigation – Real Estate
• Native American Law
• Product Liability Litigation – Defendants

Tulsa

• Corporate Compliance Law
• Corporate Governance Law
• Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
• Employment Law – Management
• Labor Law – Management
• Litigation – Environmental
• Litigation First Amendment
• Litigation – Health Care
• Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants
• Mergers & Acquisitions Law
• Privacy and Data Security Law
• Securities Regulation

Metropolitan Tier 3

Oklahoma City

• Health Care Law

Tulsa

• Litigation – Insurance
• Litigation – Intellectual Property
• Native American Law

October 10, 2024 | Benchmark Litigation, a guide that provides analysis of commercial and financial litigators and law firms in the United States, named GableGotwals as a “highly recommended” law firm for Dispute Resolution.

In addition, the following attorneys were recognized by Benchmark Litigation.

Oklahoma 2025 Benchmark Litigation: Oklahoma Attorneys
David L. Bryant United States (National), Oklahoma Litigation Star Insurance, Securities, Environmental, Energy	Jeffrey A. Curran United States (National), Oklahoma Litigation Star
Craig A. Fitzgerald Oklahoma Litigation Star Insurance, Dispute Resolution, Energy	Jake Krattiger Oklahoma, 40 & Under List – South (2024) Commercial, Energy
Justin A. Lollman Oklahoma, 40 & Under List – South (2024) Dispute Resolution	Graydon Dean Luthey, Jr. United States (National), Oklahoma Litigation Star Securities, Commercial, Native American, Energy
Nick Merkley United States (National), Oklahoma Litigation Star Competition/Antitrust, Product Liability, Energy	Barrett L. Powers Oklahoma, 40 & Under List – South (2024) Dispute Resolution
Rob F. Robertson United States (National), Oklahoma Litigation Star Product Liability and Recall, Commercial, Energy	Leasa M. Stewart Oklahoma Litigation Star Labor and Employment, Commercial
Amy M. Stipe United States (National), Oklahoma Litigation Star Insurance, Commercial, Oil and Gas

About GableGotwals
GableGotwals® is a full-service law firm with nearly 100 attorneys and more than 70 other professionals in Oklahoma and Texas. We represent a diversified client base across the nation, and our connections and reach are global. Fortune 500 corporations, privately owned companies, entrepreneurs, foundations, and individuals entrust us every day with the stewardship and strategic management of their legal challenges.