Brita Haugland Cantrell is a trial lawyer whose practice is focused on products liability defense and family law litigation. Her expertise includes all aspects of family law litigation, including complex business valuations and asset and debt apportionment as well as custody, child support, alimony and guardianship matters. In addition to her civil litigation and counseling practice, Brita also frequently handles pro bono litigation, has been a volunteer advocate for Legal Aid of Oklahoma, and has served by court appointment as a guardian ad litem. Brita's legal career spans both the private and public sectors. Upon graduating from law school in 1987, she worked as an associate with a Tulsa-based law firm for two years before transitioning her practice and serving as assistant attorney general for the State of Oklahoma from 1989 to 1994. As the state's lead environmental attorney, she specialized in environmental law litigation in administrative proceedings, state courts and federal appellate matters. In one particularly high-profile case, Arkansas et al. v. Oklahoma, 503 U.S. 91, 16 (1992), she represented the state first on appeal to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals from a decision of the Environmental Protection Agency, and subsequently on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court as counsel with Attorney General Susan Loving and Assistant Attorney General Robert Butkin. She returned to private practice with the law firm of Eldridge Cooper Steichen & Leach in 2000 and subsequently joined McAfee & Taft when the two firms combined in 2011. Her prior career experience also includes serving as executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of The Nature Conservancy from 1994 to 2000. Brita is a graduate of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) and the founding chairman of the Environmental Law Section of the Oklahoma Bar Association. She is currently serving her second five-year term as a member of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality Board. During this tenure, she has been elected twice to serve as chairman of the board. Representative Experience · Representation of individuals in actions to dissolve marriages which involve complex business evaluations, expert analysis, contingent income and high profile assets. · Representation of individuals in actions to preserve family investments during separation or divorce. · Representation of individuals in custody actions which involve expert analysis and therapeutic referrals. · Successful representation of individuals in actions to investigate and secure undisclosed assets. · Successful representation of individuals in actions to obtain or terminate guardianships. · Successful representation of individuals in multi-state custody conflicts. · Successful representation of corporate defendants in product liability litigation involving expert analysis, preparation of defense, depositions of fact and expert witnesses, motion practice and trial preparation. · Representation of parties, individual and corporate, in state and federal courts as well as administrative proceedings. Attorney Articles · Criminal procedure: The constitutional extent of the adequate tools of a defense
57 Oklahoma Law Review, 273 - 1986 At The Podium · Effective Legal Writing in Medical Products Litigation presented at Ninth Annual Medical Device Seminar on June 20, 2006 in Williamsburg, Virginia. · Prepping Company Witnesses for Deposition presented at Fifteenth Annual Medical Device Seminar on June 19, 2002. · Successful Discovery Strategies: Gaining the Edge Before Trial presented at American Conference Institute's Drug & Medical Device Litigation Conference on December 8, 1998 in New York City, New York. · Multi-District Litigation in Products Liability Cases presented at Tulsa County Bar Association on November 21, 1997 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. · Prepping Company Witnesses for Deposition presented at Tenth Annual Medical Device Seminar on June 17, 1997. · Defending Depositions presented at Oklahoma Bar Association CLE Seminar on February 2, 1996 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. · Deposition Preparation and Strategies presented at Oklahoma Bar Association CLE Seminar on October 26, 1990 in Enid, Oklahoma. · Deposition Preparation and Strategies presented at Oklahoma Bar Association CLE Seminar on October 19, 1990 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. · Taking the Deposition presented at Oklahoma Bar Association CLE Seminar on April 27, 1990 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. · Taking the Deposition presented at Oklahoma Bar Association CLE Seminar on April 20, 1990 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. · Determining Actions and Allocations of Damages in a Multi-Party Products Case - Who Pays? presented at Oklahoma Bar Association CLE Seminar on April 8, 1988 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. · Determining Actions and Allocations of Damages in a Multi-Party Products Case - Who Pays? presented at Oklahoma Bar Association CLE Seminar on April 1, 1988 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Professional Organizations And Memberships · Tulsa County Bar Association · Oklahoma Bar Association (Family Law Section; Founding Chair, Environmental Law Section) · American Bar Association (Family Law Section) Civic Involvement And Leadership · American Heart Association · Leadership Owasso (2009) · Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (Chairman of the Board) · Owasso Chamber of Commerce · The Nature Conservancy · Wauhillau Outing Club |