John M. O'Connor

John Michael O'Connor (born 1954) is an Oklahoma attorney (currently a shareholder of Hall Estill) and a former nominee to be a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, and the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

John M. O'Connor
Personal details
Born
John Michael O'Connnor

1954 (age 65–66)
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
EducationOklahoma State University (BA)
University of Tulsa College of Law (JD)

Education and career

A Tulsa native, O'Connor was born to parents Joseph, who worked on the Frisco railroad, and Mary O'Connor.[1] He earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science from Oklahoma State University, where he was student body president, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Tulsa College of Law, which he attended on scholarships and where he was elected president of the student bar association.[2][3] In addition, he was awarded a Rotary International fellowship enabling him to study law at Friedreich Wilhelm Rheinische Universitat (University of Bonn) in Bonn, Germany.[4]

From 1983 to 2018, O'Connor practiced at the Tulsa law firm he co-founded: Newton, O'Connor, Turner & Ketchum. That firm merged with the larger firm Hall Estill in 2018, where he currently practices with the corporate and business litigation groups. In 2006, the Tulsa Business & Legal News (a publication of the Tulsa World) identified O'Connor as a member of the "legal dream team" that anonymously-surveyed leading regional lawyers, judges and business leaders would recommend or choose to represent them in a courtroom.[5]

O'Connor serves on the City of Tulsa's Ethics Advisory Committee.[6] Since 2015, he has also served on the Board of Trustees for Oklahoma State University.[3]

Two complaints about O'Connor have been filed with the Oklahoma Bar Association, although neither complaint resulted in public discipline and he remains an attorney in good standing.[7]

Failed nomination to district court

On April 10, 2018, President Trump nominated O'Connor to serve as a United States District Judge for the United States District Courts of Northern, Eastern, and Western districts of Oklahoma. He has been nominated to the seat vacated by Judge James H. Payne, who assumed senior status on August 1, 2017.[8] On July 11, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[9] During his hearings Senator Kamala Harris said the Judiciary Committee should not have moved forward with O'Connor's nomination before the ABA released its rating.[10] On August 21, 2018, the American Bar Association rated O'Connor "not qualified."[11][7] On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. He was not renominated.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Joseph W. O'Connor (Obituary)". Tulsa Tribune. October 11, 1976.
  2. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Twelfth Wave of Judicial Nominees, Twelfth Wave of United States Attorneys, and Sixth Wave of United States Marshals". whitehouse.gov. April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. "John M. O'Connor bio". Hall Estill. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  4. "Tulsa attorney appointed to OSU-Tulsa Board of Trustees". Tulsa Business and Legal News. December 4, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  5. Tuttle, Ray (October 16, 2006). "Legal 'Dream Team': Anyone Would Want These Heavy Hitters in Their Corner". Tulsa Business & Legal News. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  6. "City of Tulsa Boards and Commissions". City of Tulsa. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  7. Wingerter, Justin (October 1, 2018). "Federal judge nominee from Tulsa has bar association complaints, was sued by client". Tulsa World. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  8. "Ten Nominations Sent to the Senate Today", The White House, April 10, 2018
  9. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nominations for July 11, 2018
  10. "John O'Connor, an Oklahoma judicial nominee, faces questions about Tulsa men's club". NewsOK.com. July 12, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  11. Wingerter, Justin (August 22, 2018). "Oklahoma judicial nominee John O'Connor is unqualified, Bar Association says". NewsOK. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  12. Wingerter, Justin (February 3, 2019). "Patrick Wyrick picked again by Trump for OKC federal judgeship but John O'Connor still up in the air". NewsOK. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
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