Adrienne Barnett
FOUNDING PARTNER
Adrienne decided to focus her legal career on family law because she excels at helping people resolve complex problems. From her corporate litigation background early in her career, she brings a unique perspective to cases involving significant business and personal assets. She balances her strong courtroom advocacy with empathy and practicality when assisting clients with disputes concerning their financial futures and children.
Adrienne stepped away from practicing in a larger firm so she would be able to provide clients with better attention and more personalized service in a different setting that is removed from the typical business model of a law firm. She knows that her clients need availability outside their own working hours, and that availability of good counsel in a high-stress or emergent situation can make a difference and save a client money, hassle, and heartache. Her practice now enables her to focus on clients and provide an even higher degree of service. Adrienne has utilized the assistance of accountants, experts, and co-counsel nationwide and has intentionally structured her practice to provide a depth of expertise while maintaining personal and responsive legal services. Although born and raised in Tulsa, Adrienne chose to move to the East Coast for her education.
She graduated with honors from Smith College in 2001 and Magna Cum Laude from Boston College Law School in 2004, where she was selected for the Boston College Law Review and Order of the Coif. Adrienne’s studies did not involve family law but rather were focused on business transactions, tax law, and securities law – which is a background that has proven very useful in financially complex divorce cases. During law school, she worked at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher and Flom in Boston.
After graduation, she moved to Washington D.C. to join the law firm Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale & Dorr where her practice focused on advising clients in the financial services industry. She returned to Oklahoma to serve as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert H. Henry, a judge on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and then spent fifteen years practicing at Norman Wohlgemuth, LP, a well-established boutique litigation firm known for its aggressive, responsive, and creative approach to dispute resolution. Those traits epitomize how Adrienne strives to approach each case and client.
Howard Barnett
OF COUNSEL
Howard was born and raised in Tulsa, graduating from the University of Tulsa in 1972. After graduating with his Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University, Howard returned home to practice law with a firm which was ultimately called Sneed, Lang, Adams & Barnett. Howard’s practice focused primarily on corporate transactions and securities law, much with oil and gas exploration and development companies.
After ten years, Howard left the practice of law to become an executive with Tribune/Swab-Fox Companies, Inc. which later became T/SF Communications Corporation, a publicly traded company engaged primarily in the newspaper, communications and information businesses. The company turned to Howard when it had begun experiencing significant financial difficulties with its stock price having fallen below $4.00 per share. During his tenure as CEO of T/SF, Howard led the turnaround effort which ultimately led to the sale of the company for $40.25 per share just four years later.
In 1998, Oklahoma’s Governor, Frank Keating, asked Howard to serve as his Secretary of Commerce and Director of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Thereafter, Howard became the Governor’s Chief of Staff for the last 3.5 years of the administration. After leaving the Governor’s office, Howard joined two other former officers of T/SF to form a small firm doing consulting, investing and acquisitions. This firm, called T/SF Capital, LLC, successfully led the acquisition, turnaround and sale of several companies. During this time, Howard won the Republican nomination for Oklahoma State Treasurer in 2006, and
although he was ultimately unable to beat the incumbent, he fulfilled a lifelong dream of experiencing an election as a candidate. In 2009, Howard was named President of Oklahoma State University – Tulsa, a full-service branch of one of Oklahoma’s two comprehensive research universities.
Howard retired in 2020, having stepped down as President the year before. During his tenure, from 2010 to 2013, Howard was also President of Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences and its Osteopathic medical school and was instrumental in stabilizing its teaching hospital, Oklahoma State University Medical Center. Howard’s career makes him uniquely suited to advise and consult in a variety of arenas. His experience in public service, private practice, running both public and private companies, and leading an educational institution have equipped him with a unique multi-disciplinary skill. His involvement in complex negotiations in these varied settings has been guided for decades by a philosophy of “getting to yes” and collaboration, coupled with aggressive advocacy when necessary.
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Howard recently completed the extensive training course called “Mediation: The Art of the Facilitated Settlement” from the prestigious Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law. Howard’s varied background beings a unique business-oriented focus to mediating the litigated case.
Amber Patty
Legal Assistant
Amber Patty has worked with Adrienne since 2013. Amber is not only an experienced legal assistant – she is herself a small business owner with her family-owned floral shop The Flower Co., in the Broken Arrow Rose District. She enjoys working with clients to ensure their cases are well-organized. She brings hustle, practical tips, and an eye to detail to the firm’s cases. Please contact Amber for any questions about the firm’s services or if you are unable to reach Adrienne.
Aiden McCaulley
Runner
Aiden McCaulley is Adrienne’s step-son who works as a runner for the firm. Aiden is planning on attending veterinary school, and in addition to working with Adrienne since May of 2020, has interned at Tulsa City County Library and at a local veterinary office. Aiden also enjoys playing the guitar and, between his parents’ homes, helps take care of four dogs, five cats, and a leopard gecko.