Michael Lauderdale (’90)
Michael Lauderdale is a 1990 graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law and a long-standing leader in the OU Law community, currently serving as Chair of the Board of Visitors. As the managing director of McAfee & Taft, the state’s largest law firm, he brings decades of litigation experience in labor and employment law, representing employers nationwide in complex litigation and arbitration. Michael’s practice spans the full spectrum of employment law while also advising organizations on day-to-day HR strategies that help prevent litigation and foster stronger workplaces.
Over the course of his 35-year legal career, Michael has earned national recognition for his thoughtful, results-oriented advocacy by Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, Benchmark Litigation, and Oklahoma Super Lawyers, which has named him to its list of “Top 50 Lawyers.”
Why do you stay involved with OU Law, and what inspires you to give back, whether through your time, expertise, or philanthropy?
OU Law gave me the foundation for my legal career, including the opportunity to clerk at McAfee & Taft. I want to ensure that future graduates continue to have access to those same opportunities. OU Law consistently produces outstanding graduates who contribute meaningfully to law firms, companies, and government agencies across the state. Supporting the school helps our legal community thrive.
What role did the University of Oklahoma College of Law play in shaping your professional path?
OU Law was the launchpad for my legal career. It gave me the education, mentorship, and connections that led directly to my clerkship at McAfee & Taft—an opportunity that ultimately shaped the trajectory of my entire professional life. The faculty challenged me to think critically and practically, and the relationships I built there have remained meaningful throughout my career. OU Law instilled in me a deep respect for the profession and a commitment to excellence that continues to guide my work today.
What’s one piece of advice you wish someone had given you as you were graduating from law school?
Don’t stress too much about grades, class rank, or law review. Once you start your first job, no one will ask how you did in law school. What matters from that point forward is how you perform and how you build your reputation.
What’s a favorite memory or moment from your time at the College of Law that still sticks with you?
My favorite professor was Mac Reynolds. He primarily lectured, but we once asked him to call on my friend and current law partner Rob Garbrecht on Rob’s birthday. Rob panicked but managed to blurt out an answer. It was a great moment of camaraderie.
You’ve seen the legal profession evolve over time. What changes do you think have been most significant, and what skills do you believe are most vital for today’s graduates?
The pace and expectations of legal practice have changed dramatically. When I graduated, electronic communication was limited to in-house email and pagers. Now we have email, texting, and instant messaging, which demand constant availability and rapid response. This shift has reduced formality and increased pressure. Today’s graduates must master clear, concise communication and learn to balance responsiveness with well-being. Most importantly, they must embrace AI. As someone recently said, “Unless you’re retiring in 2025, you’d better learn to use AI.” It won’t replace lawyers—it will enhance our strategic thinking and elevate our capabilities.
As a managing director of one of Oklahoma's largest law firms, how do you view the balance between tradition and innovation in the legal field?
The legal profession is built on tradition—on precedent, integrity, and the enduring value of sound judgment. But to remain effective and relevant, we must also embrace innovation. At McAfee & Taft, we strive to honor the foundational principles of the law while adapting to the evolving needs of our clients and the profession. That means integrating technology like AI to enhance legal analysis, streamline workflows, and improve responsiveness, all without compromising the quality or ethics of our work. Innovation should elevate—not replace—the core values that define great lawyering. The challenge is to lead with both wisdom and agility, ensuring that our firm remains a place where tradition informs progress.
In what ways can younger OU Law alumni make a meaningful difference for students, the profession, or their communities?
Younger alumni can make a tremendous impact by staying engaged—whether that’s mentoring students, participating in alumni events, or simply being available to share their experiences. The legal profession thrives on relationships and shared wisdom. By offering guidance, encouragement, and practical insights, younger alumni help bridge the gap between law school and practice. They also bring fresh perspectives and energy to the profession and can be powerful advocates for innovation, inclusion, and service in their communities.
Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes (MLS ’19)
Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes (MLS ’19) is an energy executive and investor with over a decade of global experience in developing and financing critical minerals and natural resource projects. She is Principal at Smoketree Resources and a Nonresident Fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
A graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law’s Master of Legal Studies in Oil, Gas, and Energy Law, Ashley previously served as Deputy Director for Batteries and Critical Materials at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she helped deploy over $16 billion to strengthen America’s energy supply chain. She has co-founded and led multiple ventures, including Black Mountain Metals and Metals Acquisition Corp.
Ashley holds a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from OU and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 in Energy and lives in Austin, Texas, with her family.
What inspired you to pursue the MLS in Oil, Gas, and Energy Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, and how has it supported your work across both public and private sectors?
I started my career as a petroleum engineer and quickly realized that many of the most important decisions in energy aren’t made in the field, but rather are shaped by regulation, contracts, and policy. The MLS gave me a framework for understanding those drivers. It has been invaluable as I’ve moved between public and private roles, from structuring government-backed funding programs to negotiating investments in mining and battery metals.
From leading battery metals ventures to advising the U.S. Department of Energy, your work sits at the nexus of innovation, regulation, and industry. How has your legal education helped you navigate these intersections?
It taught me to think critically about risk and incentives. In energy and mining, commercial success often depends on how you align technical execution with regulatory realities. The MLS program gave me the tools to speak the same language as attorneys and policymakers, which has been critical to getting deals done and shaping programs that actually work in practice.
You’ve built and led companies that fuel the energy transition, from critical minerals to renewable tech. What are the most urgent challenges and exciting opportunities you see ahead in the energy landscape?
The biggest challenge is building supply chains fast enough to meet policy timelines. We need capital, permitting reform, and a lot more public-private cooperation to make that happen. The most exciting opportunity is in the “boring” middle of the supply chain: processing, refining, and recycling. That’s where the real bottlenecks are, and that’s where long-term value will be created.
Having worked across the globe how do your Oklahoma roots and OU Law experience continue to influence your approach to leadership and policy?
Oklahoma is a place where energy isn’t an abstract debate: it’s part of daily life and the economy. That grounded perspective has stuck with me, even when I’m in D.C. boardrooms or international negotiations. OU Law reinforced the idea that practical, workable solutions matter more than theory, and that mindset has shaped how I approach both leadership and policy.
How did the interdisciplinary focus of the MLS program help you build credibility and clarity when working alongside engineers, policymakers, and investors alike?
The program sits at the intersection of law and industry, which is exactly where I spend most of my time. It gave me the vocabulary to translate between technical teams, regulators, and financiers. That ability to bridge worlds has been one of the biggest drivers of my career.
What advice would you share with aspiring leaders who are looking to break into energy, mining, or policy innovation?
Learn the fundamentals of how energy projects make money, then learn how policy shapes those economics. The best opportunities are where market needs and policy incentives overlap. Be willing to start in the trenches; understanding operations firsthand is the best way to build credibility later.
In what ways do you continue to stay connected to the OU community, and how do you hope to support the next generation of energy leaders?
I stay in touch with OU alumni in energy and try to open doors when I can. Mentorship and access are huge in this industry, and I was lucky to have people who gave me chances early in my career. I hope to pay that forward by helping OU grads find their way into roles that shape the future of energy.
Michael Nash (’17)
Michael Nash (JD ’17) is an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, which works to promote economic competition by enforcing the federal antitrust laws. Michael works within the civil enforcement program, focusing on investigations and litigation pertaining to mergers and acquisitions that may lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly, as well as other civil nonmerger conduct that may violate federal antitrust law. Since joining DOJ in 2017, Michael has contributed to high-impact investigations and litigation across a variety of industries.
Originally from Ponca City, Oklahoma, Michael graduated from the University of Oklahoma’s Michael F. Price College of Business in 2011. Upon graduation, Michael served for three years as OU’s Press Secretary and Special Assistant to then-President David L. Boren before earning his law degree from the OU College of Law.
What drew you to antitrust law, and what do you find most rewarding about your work in the Department of Justice?
My first exposure to antitrust law was taking a course at OU Law taught by Professor Kent Meyers. I enjoyed the intersection of law, economics, and business, which led me to take the second course offered by Professor Meyers. It was during that semester that I applied to the DOJ’s Honors Program. One of the components hiring that year was the Antitrust Division, and in the end, I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to begin my legal career working for that Division in Washington, DC.
The most rewarding part about my current job is the public service aspect of the role, because it’s through that perspective that I am able to continually learn new industries during our investigations; that our teams get to search for the right answer, rather than a predetermined one; and that I get the chance to work with lawyers from around the world. Our work is often challenging, but even in the weeks that are especially demanding, I feel lucky and thankful to have had this public service opportunity in my career.
When you think back to your days at the College of Law, what’s one moment or experience that helped shape your path?
There are honestly so many of these moments I could list – seemingly small moments at that time that ultimately grew into substantial pillars of my experience at OU Law. You never know where a conversation might lead, so I would encourage students today to be open to hearing from others in the building—professors, staff, and your peers—about experiences and opportunities to consider, even if you had already written off those things as something you didn’t plan to do. You may just find the exact thing you were meant to do while at OU Law. I’m thankful to have had folks encourage me to consider various opportunities I had already written off—opportunities that ended up shaping my entire OU Law experience in ways I had never imagined. But perhaps one of the most special experiences was the Oxford study abroad program. I remember wondering whether that was something I should pursue, feeling the pressure of “having only two summers” to get internship experience. But looking back, that was an experience I would never change. The friendships you form with your classmates, your professors, and the staff at Oxford are uniquely special and I feel truly set the foundation for my second and third years at OU Law.
What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to current law students who are hoping to pursue careers in government or policy?
I would encourage students to critically explore the full spectrum of public service opportunities available to them—both through your own research and through the OU Law Career Development Office. By critically explore, I mean to truly ask yourself, what could this opportunity look like for me? What kind of future career options could it lead to? Who could I talk about it with to learn more?
Looking back, I wish I had fully appreciated all of the opportunities waiting at my doorstep through the public interest career fair. When that time of year rolls around, take extra time to really explore all of the opportunities available to you there. I can tell you now, it will never get easier to have so many in-person introductions to various career paths put right in front of you, all in one place.
What inspires you to stay engaged with the OU Law community? Why is giving back through mentorship, service, or philanthropy important to you?
While in college, I always had interest in going to law school, but I never quite knew what I wanted my career to look like. But I also knew that if I didn’t go to law school when I did, I might never go at all. And I’m so thankful that I made the decision to go to OU Law. If I could tell my 1L self all that was in store for him over the next three years, I assure you I would not have believed it back then. And that is a testament to those small moments I mentioned earlier – those one-off conversations that spark into an opportunity and then ignite an entirely new direction of your life. I am so incredibly thankful that I went to law school at a place where my friends, my professors, and everyone in the building had a genuine interest in helping me succeed.
Now that I find myself on the alumni side of that same OU Law community, my hope is that sharing my experiences, my time, and my support can help future OU Law students in taking a leap and discovering all that they don’t yet know lies ahead of them. I believe that’s the power of our alumni: we have shared experiences, whether across a few years or generations, but we all want to help support the future of OU Law and those students who call it home. So if you are a prospective student who may be considering law school—whether you come from a long line of lawyers or hope to be the first in your family—you don’t have to have it all figured out before you dive in. I sure did not. And although that may not be true everywhere, it is here, because this place will help you to build the foundation for the rest of your life. My own story is only possible because of the people at OU Law who helped me along the way. So if you have an interest in pursuing your law degree, I highly encourage you to consider OU Law. It might just be the decision that changes your life.