Wagner & Lynch

08/21/2026

SONG IN YOUR SOUL FRIDAY

In 1986 Peter Gabriel released, “Sledgehammer.” It was one of those songs that not only soared up the radio charts but also had a huge impact on me as a very young MTV watcher. In ’86 MTV was still revolutionary; it gave the music industry a visual commodity in a world that had become visual through the advent of the television the generation before. This was one of those videos that you could not look away from. It seemed out of this world.

So, I’m feeling nostalgic, but the video itself is not the only thing about this song that is making me feel this way this morning. I’m nostalgic about what the song stands for as well. Listen to the lyrics, “I’m going to be the sledgehammer. This can be my testimony.” The protagonist in the song is telling the person he is talking to that he wants to be the thing that breaks through, the physical connection that overcomes what is emotionally keeping this person connecting to him. He’s asking her to dance! This song is about the need for physical connection. Sure, the subject here is obviously s*x, but that isn’t the only physical connection we need.

Today we have seeming lost the art of consensual physical touch and gathering physically to socialize. From what I’m reading this is also causing us, as a society to have less and less s*x, and leading to skyrocketing statistics on loneliness. The fact is that we need all this physical interaction, from s*x to shaking hands, to sitting across from one another at a bar and telling stories.

So, this weekend make it priority to get out. Meet a friend, ask someone on a date, or just go to something. In the words of the great and late Bob Weir of the grateful dead, “Get out there and love someone.” Happy weekend everyone!

(This is n HD version of the original video, and it’s so cool.)

“Sledgehammer”
Peter Gabriel

Lyrics

Hey, hey, you
Tell me how have you been?

You could have a steam train
If you just lay down your tracks
You could have an aeroplane flying
If you bring your blue sky back
All you do is call me
I'll be anything you need

You could have a big dipper
Going up and down, all around the bends
You could have a bumper car, bumping
This amusement never ends

I wanna be your sledgehammer
Why don't you call my name?
Wow! Oh, let me be your sledgehammer
This will be my testimony
Yeah (Yeah)

Show me 'round your fruit cage
'Cause I will be your honey bee
Open up your fruit cage
With that fruit that is sweet as can be

I wanna be your sledgehammer
Why don't you call my name?
Wow! You'd better call the sledgehammer
Put your mind at rest
I'm going to be the sledgehammer
This can be my testimony
Wow! I'm your sledgehammer
Let there be no doubt about it

Sledge, sledge
Sledgehammer

I get it right
I kicked the habit (Kicked the habit, kicked the habit)
Shed my skin (Shed my skin)
This is the new stuff (This is the new stuff)
I go dancing in (We go dancing in)
Oh, won't you show for me? (Show for me)
I will show for you (Show for you)
Hey, show for me, huh (Show for me)
I will show for you
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, I do mean you (Show for me)
Only you
You been coming through (Show for you)
I'm gonna build that power
Build, build up that power, hah (Show for me)
Hah, I've been feeding the rhythm, huh
I've been feeding the rhythm (Show for you)
Gonna feel that power, hey, build in you (Show for me)
Hah, come on, come on, help me do
Come on, come on, help me do (Show for you)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you (Show for me)
I've been feeding the rhythm
I've been feeding the rhythm (Show for you)
It's what we're doing, doing
All day and night (Show for me)
Come on, come on, help me do
Come on, come on, help me do (Show for you)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you (Show for me)
I've been feeding the rhythm…

The official Sledgehammer video in HD. Directed by Stephen R. Johns...

08/20/2026

Attention current & potential Wagner & Lynch clients!

Next week, August 24-28 we will not be scheduling any new appointments unless you have already met with one of our attorneys, completed an intake and received a quote. If you wish to retain please call our office before the close of the day tomorrow, August 21st, to guarantee that your matter will be started before September 1st. Every clients case is important to us and we want to ensure that your matter is being handled with professionalism and in a timely manner.

If you are a new client seeking representation please call our office and we will get you scheduled after September 1st!

Thank you all for trusting us with your needs.

Blake & Brecken

08/14/2026

WE CAN BEAT THEM, JUST FOR ONE DAY
WE CAN BE HEROES JUST FOR ONE DAY

Those iconic lyrics penned by David Bowie so perfectly fit what Kate Sweeney did earlier this week. Ms. Sweeney flew to New York City as a guest of the ABC network and sat for an interview which partially aired yesterday on Good Morning America and then in it's entirety on Nightline. She was there to speak out about her experience as a victim of s*xual assault in the Oklahoma Criminal Justice System. If you are not familiar with her story, Ms. Sweeney was brutally assaulted by her boyfriend, Jesse Mack Butler, when she attended Stillwater Highschool, at 16 years old. He r***d her, he strangled her, he abused her.

Butler was charged as a youthful offender, despite being eligible to be charged as an adult for any of the eleven violent charges that were brought against him for what he did to Kate as well as another teen that he dated after Kate. He was allowed by disgraced, former Payne County District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas to enter and "No Contest" plea, and and in return received approximately a year of probation and essentially had to complete some community service. Butler's "No Contest" plea was based upon the Probable Cause Affidavit, which means the specific allegations against him were wholly undisputed and therefore accepted as true by the court as a matter of law. In short, Jesse Butler doesn't dispute a single thing that Kate Sweeney and another teen accused him of.

Kate Sweeney, with the support of her family, retained Rachel Bussett to enter an appearance on her behalf and file a motion to set aside Mr. Butler's sentence because during the process of the case, Ms. Sweeney's Constitutional Rights as a victim of crime, in accordance with our Oklahoma Constitution, were violated.

I (Brecken Wagner) was asked by Ms. Bussett if I would be willing to join the team and assist in presenting Kate's Motion at a hearing earlier this year. Ms. Bussett called me and asked if I would be willing to cross-examine the Assistant and Elected District Attorney should they testify. I said, "Of course."

I went to Stillwater to be a part of a hearing and became a part of something much more special. For many reasons, most of which went to some legal complexity surrounding the novel action we were bringing, we had decided the day our hearing was to begin, to dismiss the current Motion and attempt a different action on similar grounds. Kate was prepared for us to do that, but Ms. Thomas' Office was not.

Instead of saying nothing at all, and allowing the court to dismiss the action, they claimed that their reputation had been sullied and they objected to our dismissal and moved the court to essentially find that Kate accusations that the District Attorney's Office had violated her Constitutional Right's and did not treat her with "dignity and respect." The State insisted that we dismiss the action, but only after stipulating that our allegations were false.

The judge recessed the matter for lunch and told us that we had that time to consider capitulating to the State, or proceeding with the hearing on the merits.

I'll never forget how quiet Kate was. I remember her sitting at the end of the table, her shoulders fallen and forward beneath the angle of her chin as if she carried the weight of every person in that room on those shoulders. Her eyes were cast down, and she twisted and interlaced her fingers in her lap, while we all, attorneys and her parents leaned toward her, waiting for her answer, "What do we do?"

She was hurting, but not just for herself. She was worried about us. She was worried about giving up on us. So, we started to talk, and over the course of that lunch, Kate Sweeney came alive and decided that she was going to go into that courtroom and tell her story. In what has quickly become of the top moments of my twenty-plus year legal career as a trial lawyer, I had the honor of directing her examination that day. I also, was the one that prepared her for the opposing counsel's cross-examination, and I could not be more proud of how she whipped district attorney like a jokey whipping thoroughbred in the final furlong.

The court made it's ruling, and to any observer asked it seemed so clearly divorced from the events of the hearing and the evidence presented. The system failed Kate Sweeney, but that was nothing new. The Sweeney family was very familiar with the system failing, what was new, was how the young lady at the center of all of this rose like a phoenix from the ash of all of that failure and found that her voice could be bigger than that of any system, even if it is ran by those in the "Good 'Ol Boys" crowd.

Jesse Mack Butler got his dismissal, and he will also get his expungement, but the persistence of this young lady and the uproar she has inspired will surely follow him and hold him accountable to any community he may slink in to. And she's not done.

This young lady went to New York to tell the world that she is not going to stop with holding Butler accountable, she has filed an action against Stillwater Public Schools, and I am once again honored to have been asked to join in that fight as well. Laura Austin Thomas should not go without further scrutiny as well. Ms. Thomas has since resigned and left that office, but she is just as deserving of the disgrace and shaming that should continue to follow Jesse Mack Butler. Laura Austin Thomas victimized these girls as well, and in some respects, in ways more traumatic than what Jesse Butler.

At Wagner & Lynch we represent people. When the government overreaches, fails, or harms, we represent the people it does this to. If you are one of those people, you may need Wagner & Lynch.

https://abcnews.com/video/135633655/?fbclid=IwY2xjawTshn9wZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAGJyaWQRMTNzd2VZZE5PSWRYakpNOHpzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeUGkWfwTEWBZGatpabE38NrrAlLlY7pshPoURM55_KK-KDZFpJjkIOj6qhRw_aem_tuGCV-AubgdORqpQ_VgzHA

Kate Sweeney opens up about s*xual assault allegations against her ex-boyfriend, who pled “no contest” under a youthful offender law in Oklahoma, and was sentenced to zero jail time.

08/14/2026

SONG IN YOUR SOUL FRIDAY

“Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble,” said the witches in MacBeth. That’s what I am and that’s what I’m feeling this morning. I feel it in my bones, trouble's coming. Good trouble. The right kind of trouble.

Happy weekend everyone!

“Trouble’s Coming”
Royal Blood

Lyrics

I gave my knuckles a run for their money, spider web
Cracks on the mirror, I see someone but not somebody
If I could, then I would, if I could, then I would
If I could

I let my demons take hold and choke on me
Can't fill these holes that I'm digging
Can't stop my heart when it's sinking
But if I could then I would, if I could then I would
If I could

you don't think I would pretend?
Trouble's coming but I still don't know when
That's the voice that I can hear in my head
I hear it over and over again

I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
Over and over again

I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
Over and over again

In my reflection, I see signs of psychosis
I try to pay them no attention
Can't keep them under the surface
If I could, then I would, if I could, then I would
If I could

you don't think I would pretend?
Trouble's coming but I still don't know when
That's the voice that I can hear in my head
I hear it over and over again

I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
Over and over again

I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
Over and over again

I can't wait forever
'Cause I don't have the time left to spend
Wishing I was someone better
Wishing I could start all over again

I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
Over and over again

I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
Over and over again

if I could you don't think I would pretend?
(I hear trouble coming) trouble's coming but I still don't know when
(I hear trouble coming) that's the voice that I can hear in my head
(I hear trouble coming) I hear it over and over again

I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
Over and over again

I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
I hear trouble coming
Over and over again

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Michael James Kerr / Benjamin Peter Thatcher

The official video for Royal Blood - Trouble's ComingTaken from t...

08/07/2026

FREE - OPEN CONSULTATIONS – TOMORROW MORNING

How many of you in the last week or so has either said, “I should talk to a lawyer,” or “You should talk to a lawyer”?

We know folks want to talk to us, and we know that sometimes it is hard to come in or get in touch with us during the work week. We also know that so many of you are working and it’s hard to impossible to get away and come see us. So, tomorrow Brecken will be opening the doors from 9-noon and anyone and everyone is welcome without an appointment. All we ask is for your patience, while we check for any conflicts. Once we make sure that we don’t have that as an obstacle, Brecken will talk to you about whatever your issue is and give you advice. Even if that advice is that you don’t need a lawyer. AND IT’S FREE!

When: Tomorrow Morning (Saturday) August 8, 2026. Between 9AM-NOON.
Where: Office of Wagner & Lynch (McAlester) 109 E. Washington, McAlester OK
See you there!

08/07/2026

SONG IN YOUR SOUL FRIDAY

Hell yes! The era of big hair, loud guitar riffs, and of course; S*x Drugs and Rock n’ Roll. I remember this time like it was yesterday. Bands like Motley Crue were trying tell us how things were in grimy corners of America’s streets. Our parents were freaking out because these bands put a pentagram on their album art. When we went to school were hit in the face with the D.A.R.E program and Nancy Reagan telling us to “Say No To Drugs.” (Actually, we know now that the D.A.R.E. program is statistically responsible for more young people turning to explicit drug use and has led to more drug overdoses overall. Unfortunately, this program is still in use today in far too many communities and the safest course would be to end it entirely, but I digress.)

This song comes near the end of this era as hair metal was starting phase its way out, and sitting just outside the mainstream waiting to break in was all of the Seattle sound and the grunge bands that would lead to a new era in Rock n’ Roll. But before Kurt Cobain broke out and changed the world, there was the Dr. Feelgood album. In their story style of lyrical mastery, the boys from Crue laid down some of their best work yet. Dr. Feelgood is more than just the title track from this album. It sets a tone for the album and that intro riff was the first thing you heard when you popped in the cassette and hit play back in 1989.

Have a happy and wonderful weekend everyone!

“Dr. Feelgood”
Motley Crue

Lyrics

Right
Oh baby

Rat-tailed Jimmy is a secondhand hood
Deals out in Hollywood
Got a '65 Chevy, primered flames
Traded for some powdered goods
Jigsaw Jimmy, he's runnin' a gang
But I hear he's doin' okay
Got a cozy little job, sells the Mexican mob
Packages of candy cane

He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood
He's the one that makes ya feel all right
He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood

Cops on the corner always ignore
Somebody's getting paid
Jimmy's got it wired, law's for hire
Got it made in the shade
Got a little hideaway, does business all day
But at night, he'll always be found
Sellin' sugar to the sweet, people on the street
Call this Jimmy's town

He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood
He's the one that makes ya feel all right
He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood
He's gonna be your Frankenstein

I've got one thing you'll understand
(Dr. Feelgood)
He's not what you'd call a glamorous man
(Dr. Feelgood)
Got one thing that's easily understood
(Dr. Feelgood)
He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood
Oh yeah

He'll tell you he's the king of these barrio streets
Movin' up to Shangri-La
Came by his wealth as a matter of luck
Says he never broke no law
Two-time loser running out of juice
Time to move out quick
Heard a rumor going 'round Jimmy's going down
This time, it's gonna stick

He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood
He's the one that makes ya feel all right
He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood
He's gonna be your Frankenstein

Let him soothe your soul, just take his hand
(Dr. Feelgood)
Some people call him an evil man
(Dr. Feelgood)
Let him introduce himself real good
(Dr. Feelgood)
He's the only one they call Feelgood
(No, no)

Guitar

Ladies and gentlemen
Come play with Dr. Feelgood
Huh

I've got one thing you'll understand
(Dr. Feelgood)
He's not what you'd call a glamorous man
(Dr. Feelgood)
Got one thing that's easily understood
(Dr. Feelgood)
He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood
Oh yeah

Dr. Feelgood (Dr. Feelgood)
Dr. Feelgood (Dr. Feelgood)
Dr. Feelgood (Dr. Feelgood)
Dr. Feelgood (Dr. Feelgood)
Feelgood, Feelgood, Feelgood, Feelgood, wow
Feelgood, Feelgood, Feelgood (Dr. Feelgood)

Official music video for 'Dr. Feelgood' by Mötley Crüe.Stream or B...

07/31/2026

SONG IN YOUR SOUL FRIDAY

I was going to be a football star. I dreamed of what my days in the National Football League would be like. In my daydreams I heard the roar of the crowd. In my most vibrant fantasies, I always made the big play. Then I went to college and discovered that no matter how much I loved the game of football, I just was never going to make a living from it. I have no regrets for wanting.

I was going to be a policeman. Not just any policeman, but a detective. I would be guy that always solves the big case and uses his intuition and talent to catch the bad guy and save the day, just like in the movies. I would get a degree in sociology and then go on to study forensics and be the best. Sociology courses seemed uninteresting, and the criminal justice class I took wasn’t what I was looking for. I wasn’t cut out to be the next Sherlock Holmes. I changed my major. I have no regrets for wanting.

I was going to be a great politician, or work in a position that would have a real impact on governance and public policy. I took up a political science major, and I loved this stuff. God, I was brilliant and I just inherently knew what the answers were. I went to Washington D.C., and I interned at the Capitol. I loved it, and I decided I was going to go back and work there upon my graduation. I even got a job offer at a lobbying firm. Then, I thought about how insignificant I felt at times in D.C., and I didn’t want to be small. I wanted to have a real impact. I turned down the offer. I have no regrets for wanting.

I could go on and on. The point is that we have plans. We have this idea what our life is going to be like, who we are going to be, and all before we ever get there. However, that’s not how any of this works. We go through changes, seasons, and even whole personalities. Life is a beautiful roller coaster, and it’s impossible to experience if you don’t take the first step and get in line to ride. I have plenty of regrets, but none for wanting what I wanted, even if that changed and became something else.

Here’s to living. Happy Weekend everyone!

“Plans”
Brandon Flowers

Lyrics
The pond is fed by July melted snow
That we watched fall from January windows
In our homeroom class
Teacher wondering how the hell they wound up here
So far from the plans they drew up years ago
And I stole away on that three lane headed south
I didn't know the cards were stacked
I just knew I was wild about the desert wind
Whispering sweet nothings about gearing up and chasing down
A plan I drew up years ago

That I drew up years ago
So hold me in your arms
I think I'm going under
Take your time with my heart
It's been rattled by the thunder
Of the all you got engine
Always bound for the big show
Drowning out the plans I drew up years ago

I'm gonna drive tonight
I'm gonna roll the windows down
Let the wind wash over me
Let the whole thing go
Let it all play out like a melody
Lord, it feels like a memory
Reminding me of the innocence
Of the plans I drew up years ago

That I drew up years ago
So hold me in your arms
I think I'm going under
Take your time with my heart
It's been rattled by the thunder
Of the all you got engine
Always bound for the big show
Drowning out the plans I drew up years ago

Tonight I'm on the road
With the plans I drew up years ago
So hold me in your arms
I think I'm going under
Take your time with my heart
It's been rattled by the thunder
Of the all you got engine
Always bound for the big show
Drowning out the plans I drew up years ago

Tonight I'm on the road
With the plans I drew up years ago
Tonight I'm on the road
With the plans I drew up years ago

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Brandon Flowers

Listen to “Plans” out now: https://BrandonFlowers.lnk.to/PlansPre...

07/27/2026

CAN WE START YOUR WEEK OFF WITH SOME EXTREME CUTENESS?

It’s Monday, and let’s face it we're all dragging just a little bit. How could we not after such an awesome weekend with Switchfoot playing downtown at the Dancing Rabbit Music Festival? Anyway, we at Wagner & Lynch feel like the best thing we can do for our followers is to give this Monday a little boost of positivity and adorableness.

One of our very talented paralegals (something we have no short supply of at Wagner & Lynch), Bree Maxwell has been out, and today she came back in with the cute little bundle of joy you see pictured. Bree gave birth to little Myka Jade (pause for ooo’s and ahhh’s) on July 12th. She is perfect, we are so happy for Mom and Dad, and so grateful that we get to celebrate this beautiful little joy with them.

Please join us in welcoming Little Myka Jade to our Wagner & Lynch family, and our community, full of fantastic folks like yourselves.