Our Lawyers

Since founding the firm in 1973, Reece Morrel has had one single goal - "negotiate a deal that is fair for all parties involved."  His work ethic was founded by the hardships of growing up in rural Oklahoma during the 1940's.  Shortly after graduating from college, he joined the Internal Revenue Service.  His success as a Revenue Agent and his desire to learn lead him to the University of Tulsa's College of Law night school program.

Mr. Morrel's early legal career took off as has reputation for being a highly-respected Tax and Transactional Real Estate lawyer grew.  Working on behalf of his clients, his career has taken him all over the country and the world - including the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, China, Switzerland and Belize.  His clientele includes companies in a variety of industries such as taxation, gambling, oil and gas, real estate, manufacturing, engineering and professional firms, wholesale nurseries, wineries, software development and computer gaming to name a few.

Today, Mr. Morrel resides in Tulsa with his wife of 51 years.  And as always, he is looking forward to the next challenge.

Ronald J. Saffa joined the Firm’s tax law staff in 1984, following 8 years of service with the Internal Revenue Service as an Internal Revenue Agent. Mr. Saffa has handled many complex controversies and difficult planning issues during his tenure with the Firm. Mr. Saffa has enjoyed success reducing, and in many cases, eliminating disputed tax assessments involving tens of millions of dollars. Mr. Saffa works principally in tax and business transactions, probate and estate planning.

Mark A. Craige joined the firm in 1992. He received a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science and Accounting degrees with honors in 1978 from Southeastern Oklahoma State University and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tulsa in 1981. Mr. Craige’s practice is devoted to insolvency, receiverships, reorganization and related areas with primary emphasis on creditors, committees, trustees and Chapter 11 Bankruptcy reorganizations, business Chapter 7 cases and bankruptcy litigation. He has been counsel of record in some 30 reported cases on bankruptcy law issues and over 1,100 bankruptcy cases.

Mr. Craige was inducted as a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy in 2000 and has been board certified by the American Board of Certification in Business Bankruptcy Law since 1992. Mr. Craige was a member of the board of directors of American Board of Certification from 1994 to 2002. During his tenure on the Board, he served in numerous roles as Vice-president, President and Chairman in 2001, as well as chair of the marketing committee and a member of the standards and faculty committees. He has also been an active member of the American Bankruptcy Institute for over 20 years where he worked on several committees and chaired the membership committee from 1998 thru 2000. He was the awarded ABI’s Meritorious Service Award in 1995 for the development, organization and implementation of the nationwide Regional Membership Network Program.

Mr. Craige is a frequent lecturer at more than 75 continuing education seminars on bankruptcy and insolvency topics since 1990 in Oklahoma, as well as other state and national seminars. He received the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Earl Sneed award as the outstanding contributor to continuing legal education in the State of Oklahoma in 1998.

James R. Hicks joined the Firm in May, 1987 in response to the growing demand for Courtroom experience from among the Firm’s clients. The increasing needs for dispute resolution, litigation strategy and trial management were needed by the Firm’s increasing corporate and business clients.  He has represented clients in a broad range of disputes and full trials in both State and Federal Courts. His excellent drafting and negotiation skills have benefited various clients ranging from securities class action matters to settlement of multimillion dollar disputes.

Mr. Hicks has served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Oklahoma Bar Association and in numerous capacities with the Tulsa County, Oklahoma and American Bar Associations.

Mr. Hicks works principally in the areas of commercial and business litigation and increasingly, in the areas of workers’ compensation and business acquisitions.

Reece B. Morrel, Jr. joined the firm in 1992. Mr. Morrel works primarily with tax planning and controversies, real estate transactions, workers’ compensation, corporate formation, and estate planning and probate.

Mr. Morrel is the author of the "Lady Luck Gambling Diary:  Slot Machine Edition" - the only gambling diary that is compliant with IRS Revenue Procedure 77-29.

Mr. Finlayson’s practice emphasizes commercial litigation, creditors’ rights and bankruptcy law.

He is nationally recognized for his expertise in the defense of guarantors of student loans in adversary proceedings seeking to discharge those student loans in bankruptcy.

Mr. Finlayson is one of only three “triple-certified” attorneys in the United States in Creditors’ Rights Law, Business and Consumer Bankruptcy Law.

John G. Barnhart joined the Firm effective April 1, 2006. Mr. Barnhart received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Oklahoma in 1989 where he served as Note Editor of Oklahoma Law Review.

He was admitted to the bar in 1989 in Texas and 1993 in Oklahoma. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern Districts of Texas and Oklahoma. His practice focuses on workers’ compensation defense, insurance defense and commercial litigation.

Tracy Beeson has been engaged in private practice since 2006, with areas of concentration in estate planning, probate, estate administration, guardianship and corporate law. Tracy Beeson spent eight years pre-admission legal experience under the mentorship of James L. Sneed, concentrating on estate tax, estate planning and corporate law.