The county filed a motion to have the law firm, Norman, Wohlgemuth, Chandler, and Dowdell removed from the case because it is also currently representing the Tulsa Country Retirement Board, potentially creating a conflict of interest.
Two witnesses were called and several exhibits were shown that indicated that the county had paid the firm for a case related to the Retirement Board .
However, Jo Lynn Jeter requested that the motion be dismissed, giving two reasons. Jeter stated that she believed the county had failed to meet legal standards for disqualification because it hadn’t proven that the involvement in the Retirement Board case would harm proceedings in the lawsuit at hand. She also claimed that the county had failed to prove the law firm has possession of any information which would negatively impact the county, or the proceedings.
District Judge Jefferson Sellers said that for him to disqualify the law firm from the case, he would have to be provided evidence of a conflict of interest or an improper possession of confidential information.
“I cannot do that based on the evidence that has been presented to me in this matter,” he said.