J. M. Dennis & Associates Law Firm

11/06/2025

https://www.13newsnow.com/video/news/abby-zwerner-awarded-10-million-in-civil-lawsuit-live-impact-news/291-808e0a17-039e-4b0b-92be-508f455a7cbd

Ex-teacher Newport News teacher shot by a 6-year-old student wins a $10M jury verdict in her lawsuit against a former school administrator.

10/29/2025

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/29/us/abby-zwerner-teacher-shooting-trial

A former assistant principal at a Virginia elementary school ignored multiple warnings that a 6-year-old student had a gun in the hours before he shot his teacher, an attorney for the teacher said Tuesday as trial opened in the woman’s $40 million lawsuit.

10/31/2024

10/08/2024

Having an independent court system that is fair for all citizens is not a partisan issue. Our court system is the anchor of our democracy. We all want unbiased, non-political judges who will give each party to a dispute a fair playing field. We want judges to apply the constitution and state laws to the facts of each dispute without favor or purchased influence.

Oklahomans were embarrassed and humiliated by a court scandal in the 1960s when three Supreme Court justices were forced out of office after taking bribes. Voters were disgusted with the corruption and approved a series of amendments to the state constitution to take influence out of the appointment of Supreme Court justices and other top appeals court judges.

The system of retention was meant for an individual voter to retain or not retain appellate judges. For more than a half century since the implementation of the retention system, there has been no hint of scandal in the appellate courts of Oklahoma.

The system was never meant to be inundated by dark money groups meeting in back rooms to discard independent justices in favor of justices that are believed to be more favorable to their interests. Said plainly, a new scandal is brewing.

We are currently witnessing a handful of special interest political influencers attempting to create this new scandal. At a time when we see both elected officials and large private entities expanding their interests at the expense of the rights of the individual granted by the our Constitution, millions of dollars in dark money is being funneled into a campaign suggesting that three veteran justices should not be retained in the general election.

We don’t know who is trying to take over the Supreme Court. Is it a church organization not pleased with the Supreme Court ruling that taxpayer money cannot be used to finance a church school? Is the money coming from businesses who have cases pending in the Supreme Court? Why would an independent judiciary offend their sense of purpose?

We do not know the answers to those questions, and the use of dark money is an effort to prevent us from learning the answers. What we do know is that the integrity of all appellate justices that appear on this year’s retention ballot is unquestioned. We also know new justices appointed would forever be indebted to these anonymous benefactors.

Oklahomans should keep the integrity of our appellate courts intact. We must never return to the dark days of partisan politics, corruption, and scandal. I encourage you to question the motives of those that seek to control the independent judiciary. I encourage you to research what special interests are sought to be protected. I encourage you to determine why anyone would seek to discard an independent judiciary.

Authored by Bob Burke... an Oklahoma City constitutional lawyer, author, and historian. He has written three books about the Oklahoma Supreme Court scandal of the 1960s.

04/13/2024

Giving the Governor (Stitt or any other Governor) sole authority to choose Judges is a terrible measure… SJR 34 would eliminate non-partisan oversight and balance of governmental power.

Former OU head coach Barry Switzer criticizes a proposed legislation that would give Oklahoma's governor the sole authority to appoint state judges

03/05/2024

This is a yearly push by Sen. Julie Daniels (Bartlesville) to create a biased and partisan court system in OK. Please contact your local Senators and tell them to vote ‘NO’ on this bad bill.

11/14/2023

Arrested for manslaughter?

A man was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in the death of ex-NHL player Adam Johnson, whose throat was cut by a skate blade during a game.

03/22/2023

Interesting read about photo evidence, expert testimony, jurors’ perceptions of damage to vehicles and personal injuries.

Photos of damaged vehicles are relevant to the likelihood and degree of personal injury in a car accident case and they are admissible at trial, even when

03/04/2023

https://twitter.com/TheProblem/status/1631610370887491584?s=20

“State Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-OK) has penned several bills loosening gun restrictions, including the nation’s first anti-red flag law. He thinks these bills protect the Second Amendment – and that they make us safer. We think it's probably one or the other. Watch it on .”

02/08/2023

Private school vouchers are back on the table...

https://tulsaworld.com/opinion/letters/letter-think-critically/article_7123aed8-9b4a-11ed-b44f-4f219a36fc57.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_Tulsa_World&fbclid=IwAR34d-RtivuErf7HJwp9KzrQZerKQKquN_7-TqepNbC6_iYSwnB4yqpgRvI

"If parents want their children to have private school or religious education, so be it. Just don’t expect the rest of us to pay for it," says Tulsa's Pam Pope.

01/28/2023

Legal issues of permissive use, authorized driver, vicarious liability… and UGA distancing itself from negligence.

University of Georgia athletic association said personal use of the SUV that was involved in a crash that killed a football player and employee was "strictly prohibited."