History

Over the past five decades, Fellers Snider has developed many of Oklahoma’s leading attorneys. Our lawyers come from diverse backgrounds, but our common bond is a dedication to delivering the highest-quality legal service available. Each of our attorneys has a genuine concern for our clients’ problems, and we offer an impressive array of talents, experience, creativity and reliability when it comes to solving them.

Fellers Snider has a reputation for service and quality because we value each relationship – we recognize that the firm’s success is based on our dedication to attaining the best results for our clients.

The 1960s 

The firm began in 1963 in Oklahoma City, where our representation of local and national clients served as the genesis of the our trial and litigation practice. In 1964, our founder, James D. Fellers, served as president of the Oklahoma Bar Association.

The 1970s 

The 1970s cemented the firm’s fundamental litigation practice. In 1974, Fellers became the first Oklahoman to serve as president of the American Bar Association. Through this prestigious position, we were able to boost the firm’s national reputation by representing a number of major corporations. It was during this decade that we established our core goals of cultivating partnerships with clients, providing practical solutions and ensuring cost efficiencies.

The 1980s 

Our banking, oil and gas, and natural resources practice areas emerged in the 1980s, all while the firm’s reputation for the quality of its litigation practice continued to grow nationwide. Our notable cases in this period included trials of what the New York Times characterized as one of the largest and longest bank fraud cases in American history. As our attorneys garnered numerous million-dollar verdicts on behalf of our clients, we achieved equal success in defense cases, including numerous defense verdicts in oil and gas, director and officer, securities, and other business litigation.

During this decade, Fellers was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Burck Bailey continued the tradition of leading legal organizations at the top level: He served as president of the Oklahoma County Bar Association from 1983 to 1984, and in 1988, he accepted the position of president with the Oklahoma Bar Association.

The 1990s 

The firm continued to build on its reputation as the go-to law firm in high-stakes litigation involving a variety of industries and practice areas throughout the 1990s. We obtained the largest punitive damage verdict rendered at the time in Oklahoma – $30 million – and successfully tried hundreds of cases of local, regional and national significance on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants.

This decade also saw a day of sorrow for the firm: Our founders, James D. Fellers and John Joseph Snider – partners for more than 42 years – both died of natural causes on April 3, 1997.

The 2000s 

The firm experienced tremendous growth during the first decade of the new millennium. The addition of attorneys to our corporate and tax, real estate, energy, environmental, technology, and telecommunications practice areas added strength and depth throughout the firm. 

The 2010s 

Fellers Snider celebrated our 50th anniversary in 2013, and our commitment to leadership in the legal community continues to this day. John Heatly served as president of the Oklahoma County Bar Association; three of our attorney's  each served terms as president of the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Section; and our former director of administration, served as president of the Association of Legal Administrators. We also have been awarded the Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher Diversity Award for our commitment to improving diversity within the legal profession, and we’re proud to continue our tradition of providing service and quality to clients across the globe.