Board of Directors
The management of OAMIC is vested by our Board of Directors. The Board consists of 16 directors, 15 of whom are elected by the Policyholders. The sixteenth director is the current President-Elect of the Oklahoma Bar Association. Read below to learn more about our Board.
Angela Ables
Angela Ables graduated from East Central University with Honors in 1972 and Oklahoma City University School of Law in 1975. She worked in the Washington D.C. office of Speaker Carl Albert, U.S. House of Representatives before joining the staff of the Oklahoma Attorney General, where she worked for 6 years. After serving as an Assistant Attorney General, she went to the Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner’s Office, where she served as the Deputy Insurance Commissioner for 5 years before leaving to join the law firm of Kerr, Irvine, and Rhodes in 1985. In 1988, she became a partner in the firm, and the name was changed to Kerr, Irvine, Rhodes & Ables. She has served as President of the firm since 1999. Ms. Ables serves as a Board Member of the Oklahoma High Risk Pool, Chairman of the Oklahoma Bar Association Group Insurance Committee and Director Emeritus of Lyric Theatre. She is a member and former chairman of the Board of the Federation of Regulatory Counsel (FORC), a nationally recognized regulatory law organization.
David Burrage
David Burrage graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 2002 and is the lead attorney at Burrage Law Firm in Durant. Mr. Burrage has served as the Vice-President of the Bryan County Bar Association and council member for the City of Durant. He is currently an associate bar examiner and a member of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. Mr. Burrage also serves as Judge for the Choctaw Nation.
Philip Eller
Mr. Eller has practiced law since 1976 and is an officer, director and shareholder of the law firm of Eller & Detrich in Tulsa. Mr. Eller has previously served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Tulsa and as an adjunct settlement judge for the District Court of Tulsa County. He has also served on the Tulsa County Bar Association’s Grievance Committee. He has also served as a director and president of the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane Club and the Sooner Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Additionally, Mr. Eller is a former director, vice-chairman and general counsel of the Tulsa Metro Chamber of Commerce. He currently serves as a trustee and chairman of the Tulsa Industrial Authority and as a director of i2E. Mr. Eller has previously served as Chairman of the Board of OAMIC.
Simone Fulmer
Simone Fulmer is an experienced litigator at Fulmer Sill Law, working primarily in Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation and Class Actions. Simone is admitted to the bar in all Oklahoma state and federal courts, and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a member of the Oklahoma Association for Justice, American Association for Justice, Oklahoma Bar Association and Oklahoma County Bar Association. Simone has taught seminars on insurance and bad faith litigation in Oklahoma and nationally. Prior to joining Mr. Whitten in 1998, representing policyholders in all types of insurance matters, Simone worked as an attorney for Globe Life & Accident Insurance Company. As a law student she was a pupil of the Luther Bohanon American Inn of Court from 1995 to 1996. The University of Oklahoma College of Law honored her in 1995 with an award for Academic Achievement in Trial Techniques and in 1996 she was honored as a member of the Order of Barristers. Simone graduated cum laude from Oklahoma Baptist University and received her J.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, graduating with Distinction. Simone is on the Boards of Oklahoma Lawyers for Children and the Oklahoma Association for Justice. She is also proud to be involved in IMPACT Oklahoma.
Cody Hodgden
Mr. Hodgden has practiced law since 1995 and is a partner in the Hodgden Law Firm in Woodward. He has previously served as president of the Woodward County Bar Association and as chairman of the Woodward County Law Day and the Boiling Springs Legal Institute. Mr. Hodgden served on the Professional Responsibility Tribunal for the OBA from 2007 – 2013. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Woodward Industrial Foundation, the Woodward Education Foundation, the Woodward Health Services Foundation and the MidFirst Bank Advisory Board.
James Jennings
James Jennings graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1974. Mr. Jennings spent 3.5 years as an Assistant District Attorney in Oklahoma County. He then entered the private practice of law, remaining with the firm ultimately known as Holloway Dobson Bachman & Jennings for 23 years. In 2000, Mr. Jennings formed Jennings Cook & Teague, where he remains in active practice today. He is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association, the Oklahoma County Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He is a member of the Defense Research Institute and a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel. He is a sustaining member of the Product Liability Advisory Council, a fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America Trial Lawyer Honorary Society, and an associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He has been named an Oklahoma Super Lawyer for 2006, 2007, and 2008. He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Jennings serves as a member of the board of directors of the Chickasaw Banc Holding Co. and Bank2.
Ronald Main
Mr. Main has practiced law since 1964 and is a sole practitioner in Tulsa. He has previously served as President of Tulsa County Bar Association and President of the Tulsa County Bar Foundation. He has served the Oklahoma Bar Association as a member of the Board of Governors, Vice-President, Chair of the Professional Responsibility Commission, Presiding Master of the Professional Responsibility Tribunal, and Editor of the Oklahoma Bar Journal. He is the recipient of the Tulsa County Bar Association “Outstanding Senior Lawyer Award,” the “Golden Rule Award” and the OBA John Shipp “Award for Ethics.” He has served as Trustee of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation, and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Robert Margo
Mr. Margo has practiced law since 1974 and is a sole practitioner in Oklahoma City. Mr. Margo is a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and past president of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Oklahoma Chapter. He has chaired several committees of the Oklahoma County Bar Association. Mr. Margo has previously served as Chairman of the Board of the Insurer.
Michael Mayhall
Mr. Mayhall has practiced law since 1975 and is a shareholder of Godlove, Mayhall, Dzialo, Dutcher & Erwin in Lawton. Mr. Mayhall served on the Oklahoma Bar Association Board of Governors (1990-92), as President of the Comanche County Bar Association (1988), as Vice-President of the Oklahoma Bar Association (1998) and currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation. Mr. Mayhall has served on several Oklahoma Bar Association committees including serving as Chairman of the Taxation Section (1980). Mr. Mayhall is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Richard Nix
Mr. Nix has practiced in the field of employee benefits and executive compensation law since 1985 and serves as the managing director of McAfee & Taft. He is a member of the Oklahoma County Bar Association, Oklahoma Bar Association, American Bar Association and Oklahoma City Employee Benefits Conference and has served in leadership positions with the IRS Midstates EP/EO Council (secretary/treasurer) and SouthWest Benefits Association (board of directors). Active in the community, he currently serves on the board of directors of YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City and Calm Waters, Inc., and on the board of trustees for the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation and OU Medical Center.
Philip Richards
Phil Richards graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1983 and, after a year as an Assistant District Attorney in Stephens County, has spent his career in Tulsa as a civil trial lawyer. In 1997 he formed the law firm that is now Richards & Connor. He primarily represents businesses and insurers in both state and federal courts throughout Oklahoma. He is admitted to practice before all trial and appellate courts for the State of Oklahoma, all federal district courts in Oklahoma, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He has served as President of the Oklahoma Association of Defense Counsel, is a Master Emeritus of the Hudson-Hall-Wheaton Chapter of the American Inns of Court, is a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has served as its Oklahoma State Chair. He has taught continuing education programs on insurance coverage, bad faith law and trial practice, and has authored papers on topics including insurance coverage, bad faith litigation, trial practice, and constitutional jurisprudence. Published decisions in cases he has handled include matters of insurance coverage, bad faith liability, ERISA, medical malpractice, governmental liability, tort liability and commercial litigation. He is listed in The Best Lawyers In America, as an Oklahoma Super Lawyer (2006 to present), Top 50 Oklahoma Super Lawyers (2006 to present), Top 10 Oklahoma Super Lawyers (2011 to present), and as a Top Lawyer in Financial Services by Corporate Counsel magazine.
Sara Royster
Sara Smith Royster joined Frederic Dorwart Lawyers in December 2013. Prior to that, she practiced for 7 years at Jones, Gotcher & Bogan in Tulsa, where she primarily practiced in commercial litigation with a focus in real estate, construction, employment and banking. Her practice now includes regulatory compliance in the banking industry, particularly residential mortgage lending and loan servicing governed by the Consumer Federal Protection Bureau (CFPB). Ms. Royster graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2004 with a B.A. in International Business, and received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Tulsa in 2007. Ms. Royster was admitted to practice in the State of Oklahoma in May 2007 where she is member of the Federal District Courts for the Eastern, Northern and Western Districts of Oklahoma, and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Ms. Royster is also admitted to practice in the State of Illinois.
Scott Savage
Scott Savage graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1978. He spent the next 26 years, 22 as a partner, with the Tulsa law firm of Moyers, Martin, Santee & Imel, and five years as the General Counsel for American Central Gas Technologies. He previously served as Of Counsel to the firm of Richards & Connor, and was also a founding member of the law firm Savage Baum & Glass. In 2016, Mr. Savage returned to Moyers Martin. Mr. Savage is a member of the Tulsa County, Oklahoma and American Bar Associations. He serves as an Adjunct Settlement Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
Susan Shields
Susan Shields practices in the areas of tax and family wealth. Susan is a frequent speaker on a variety of estate planning, probate and nonprofit topics at professional and continuing legal education seminars, and has served as an adjunct professor of law in estate planning and wealth transfer tax at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. In addition to being an elected fellow of the prestigious American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and serving as the Oklahoma state chair of ACTEC, Susan’s achievements have also earned her recognition as a top-ranked private wealth lawyer in Chambers HNW, the guide to the world’s leading high net worth advisers. Susan has also been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America and Oklahoma Super Lawyers, where she has been named to its exclusive “Top 10 Lawyers,” “Top 25 Women Lawyers” and “Top 50 Oklahoma Lawyers” lists. She was selected by Best Lawyers as the “Oklahoma City Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Lawyer of the Year” for 2015, “Oklahoma City Trusts and Estates Litigation Lawyer of the Year” for 2016, “Oklahoma City Business Organizations Lawyer of the Year” for 2017 and 2019, and “Oklahoma City Tax Litigation and Controversy Lawyer of the Year” for 2018, honors only given to a single lawyer in each legal specialty in each market.
Active in the legal community, Susan is president-elect of the Oklahoma Bar Association in 2019, having previously served as vice president in 2014 and also serving a three-year term as a member of the OBA’s Board of Governors from 2010 – 2012. In 2015, she completed an eight-year term on the Oklahoma Bar Foundation’s Board of Trustees, which included a one-year term as its president in 2013.
Mart Tisdal
Mr. Tisdal has practiced law since 1976 and is a shareholder in the firm of Tisdal & O’Hara with offices in Clinton and Edmond. Mr. Tisdal has previously served as Vice President of the OBA Board of Governors, President of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation, Chairman of the OBA Professional Responsibility Commission and Chairman of the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission. The Best Lawyers in America named him Oklahoma Attorney of the Year in Oil & Gas Law (2011). He has received the OBA’s President’s Award and the Neil E. Bogan Professionalism Award. Mr. Tisdal is a Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of the American Bar Association, and an Oklahoma Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
John Wynne
Mr. Wynne has practiced law since 1974 and is a shareholder and a director of the law firm of Traynor, Long, Wynne &Woodward P.C., Enid, Oklahoma. Mr. Wynne previously served as President of the Garfield County Bar Association. He has also previously served as City Chairman of Integris Bass Baptist Health Center in Enid.