Today's Brief
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Courts & Law
Oklahoma Supreme Court Disbars Lawyer After Domestic Violence Convictions
The decision underscores how state bars treat domestic violence convictions and post-charge conduct toward disciplinary authorities as grounds for disbarment, not lesser sanctions.
The facts · bedrock
The Oklahoma Supreme Court disbarred attorney Barlean in an opinion authored by Justice Kuehn. On January 5, 2023, Barlean pled guilty to two misdemeanor charges of domestic assault and battery stemming from incidents in August 2021 and December 2022 involving the same woman. A felony strangulation charge was reduced to a misdemeanor under the plea agreement. After he failed to complete probation requirements, the state moved to accelerate his deferred sentence in September 2024, and both counts were converted to convictions. The court had imposed an interim suspension on May 20, 2024.
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Reason
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How it's being framed
Same facts, different stories. We name the frame instead of pretending neutrality.
Professional fitness frame
"An attorney who repeatedly committed domestic violence, blew off his court-ordered remediation, and then verbally abused bar officials has demonstrated exactly the kind of poor judgment and propensity for violence that disqualifies someone from practicing law."
Self-sabotage spectacle frame
"The remarkable feature here isn't the disbarment itself but the respondent's own performance — taunting the court, boasting about military violence, dismissing his crimes as 'felonious peccadillos' — a near-textbook case of a lawyer talking himself into the harshest possible sanction."