Briefly Legal

After a long hiatus, Briefly Legal returns just in time to preview the 2026 SHRM Oklahoma Annual State Conference. This year, the conference takes place in Tulsa at the Arvest Convention Center, April 30 - May 1, 2026. With three weeks left to register, SHRM Oklahoma’s State Director Tara Crowley returns to Briefly Legal for a preview of this year’s event.    Tara and Adam discuss this year’s them...

It’s springtime, and in Oklahoma, that could only mean one thing—the annual SHRM Oklahoma (formerly OKHR) conference is right around the corner. This year, the conference returns to Oklahoma City with events taking place at the Oklahoma City Convention Center, May 5-6, 2025. With less than a month before the opening sessions begin, current SHRM Oklahoma Director Tara Crowley joins Briefly Legal fo...

On August 20, 2024 a Texas federal court issued a nationwide order preventing the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Non-Compete Rule from going into effect. For the time being, employers are not required to comply with the FTC’s proposed rule to prohibit employers from imposing non-compete clauses on employees.   On this episode of Briefly Legal , Labor & Employment attorneys Chris Vaught and L...

In the second installment of our podcast series examining the impact of Loper Bright in various industries and practice groups, Energy Environment & Natural Resources Practice Group member Alyssa Sloan joins Briefly Legal to discuss the potential new wave of administrative jurisprudence in the wake of Chevron’s demise. Alyssa discusses the impact Loper Bright will have on Congress’s intent to...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently handed down one of the most significant decisions in decades. In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo , a case involving a little-known National Marine Fisheries Service regulation, SCOTUS overturned the Chevron doctrine, and in so doing, removed the forty-year old legal foundation that many federal agencies relied upon when promulgating their regulations. In this f...

For the second year in a row, Oklahoma Human Resources State Council (OKHR) Director Kristi Spaethe joins Briefly Legal for a preview of the PowHR 2024 OKHR Conference. This year, the conference travels back up the Turner Turnpike with all the action taking place at the Hyatt Regency Downtown Tulsa, April 16-18, 2024. Kristi and Adam discuss this year’s tailored breakout sessions and keynote speak...

Our clients often face governmental, legislative, and regulatory challenges that require strategic advice at the local, state, and federal government level. To meet our clients' needs, Crowe & Dunlevy launched the Government Relations, Legislative & Regulatory Affairs Practice Group to provide businesses and non-profits with guidance on a variety of governmental and political issues....

Chris Davis was born to an average blue-collar family in central Illinois. Growing up, he enjoyed playing sports, going hunting, attending Boy Scout meetings – the things a typical midwestern kid would be interested in. His life changed, however, when he was 17 years old, and doctors had discovered that an astrocytoma had developed on his spinal cord. After undergoing successful surgery to remove...

On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law. The IRA provides tax incentives and grants for solar, wind, hydrogen, nuclear, oil and gas, and carbon capture, utilization and storage projects (CCUS). Specifically the IRA amends section 45Q of the tax code to provide credits for the capture and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) in underground geologic formation...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has added addressing exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as a new regulatory priority in its National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives for 2024-2027. With this announcement, the number of PFAS-related regulations and enforcement issues is expected to rise over the next several years. Briefly Legal is launching its first spin-o...

In a decision applicable to both unionized and non-union employers, on August 2, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overturned a prior 2017 decision that afforded employers flexibility in the policies and procedures they use to govern the workplace and changed its standard for assessing whether certain categories of work rules are lawful to maintain. The NLRB’s new standard outlined i...

On May 30, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a memorandum advising NLRB regional directors that most non-compete agreements infringe on an employee’s Section 7 rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The memo follows on the heels of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) January 5, 2023, proposed rule prohibiting employers from imposing non-compete clauses on emplo...

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma in which the court found that Congress had never disestablished the Muscogee Nation’s reservation, several more criminal cases have materialized involving the interpretation of Tribal jurisdiction on reservations outside of the Five Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee, and Seminole). One case in particular, Oklahoma v. Breste...

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to move forward with the regulation of certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals.” Join Energy, Environmental and Natural Resources Practice Group member and shareholder, Tim Sowecke, for this special Earth Day Episode, in which he discusses the history and chemistry of PFAS and also discus...

Oklahoma Human Resources State Council (OKHR) Director Kristi Spaethe joins the podcast for a preview of the upcoming FunHR OKHR 2023 Conference at the Oklahoma City Convention Center, April 25-27, 2023. Kristi discusses this year's breakout sessions and keynote speakers tailored specifically for HR professionals, and touches on all the fun events planned for conference attendees, including C...

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently proposed new requirements for publicly traded companies, including market entities regulated by the SEC, to address their cybersecurity risks. The proposed requirements are meant to not only protect investors, but would also benefit other market participants from knowing that the publicly traded entities have the proper protections in place. Cybersec...

On January 18, 2023, the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published a final rule redefining the term "waters of the United States" (WOTUS) modifying the purview of bodies of water subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and reversing the regulatory changes made during the Trump Administration. Already being challenged in court, the rule became effective March 20, 2023,...

On Tuesday, March 7, 2023, Oklahoma voters will return to the polls to decide whether or not adult recreational use of marijuana should be allowed in the state. Regardless of the outcome, securing a place on the ballot for State Question 820 is an achievement all on its own. Melanie Wilson Rughani , co-chair of the firm's Appellate and Initiative Petitions Practice Groups, delivers a deep div...

In January, the Federal Trade Commission issued a proposed rule that would prohibit all employers nationwide from imposing non-compete clauses on workers, and making the rule retroactive, meaning all pre-existing non-compete agreements would become invalid and unenforceable as well. Arguing that non-compete agreements significantly reduce workers’ wages, this is one of the most aggressive steps ta...

If we have learned anything about workplace culture from the pandemic, it’s that things are constantly changing. One of those changes, coined as “quiet quitting,” can generally be described as the practice of an employee disengaging from the workplace by only performing the bare minimum job requirements—think Stanley from The Office. In our last episode of 2022, Labor & Employment Practice Gro...

On June 29, 2022, in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta , the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 5-4 decision that the state of Oklahoma had concurrent jurisdiction with the federal government to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian Country. Indian Law & Gaming Practice Group Chair Mike McBride and associate Greg Buzzard discuss the importance of the change in composition to th...

Crowe & Dunlevy’s Tulsa office recently relocated to 222 North Detroit, becoming the first tenant to occupy space in the new building in downtown Tulsa’s Greenwood District. Real Estate Practice Group co-chair Malcolm E. Rosser IV joins Briefly Legal to discuss the more than 34,000 square feet of office space that prioritizes functionality, technology and efficiency while also promoting connec...

In a recent decision regarding the dress code at a Tesla manufacturing plant, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that a dress code or uniform policy that even implicitly limits employees’ ability to wear clothing that supports a union, unionization, or any collective action related to the terms and conditions of employment violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Along with B...

In a highly controversial move, on Sept. 6 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its notice for a proposed federal rule to designate two specific “forever chemicals” – PFOA and PFOS – as “hazardous substances” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund. In Part III of our podcast saga on PFAS regulation, Energy, E...

On Friday, August 26, 2022, Crowe & Dunlevy celebrated its 120th anniversary as a law firm. Founded by Charles Johnson five years before statehood, the firm is currently named for Vincil P. Crowe and Fred W. Dunlevy, who joined in 1929 and 1937, respectively, both instrumental in transforming the firm into a leading law firm in Oklahoma, and a strong supporter of the local community. The firm...