Melvin Hall speaks at BLSA’s “Remembering Our History” Program

Melvin Hall speaks at BLSA’s “Remembering Our History” Program
Melvin Hall, a 1981 graduate of OU Law, joined the Black Law Student Association to speak at the group’s “Remembering Our History” Program.  Mr. Hall’s speech focused on the strides the African-American community has made in the legal field and credited Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher for many of those changes.  He told the students of the impact she made in his life and how the students will also have the power to change someone’s life.  “You have to encourage people.  People are going to respect you.  If you say something, they are going to believe it.  They’re going to buy it.  You have that power.”  Mr. Hall served on The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents with Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher where he also made history, becoming the first African-American chairman in 1998.    
Mr. Hall is now a shareholder partner at the law firm of Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbison & Lewis.  His practice focuses on civil litigation of employment law and civil right cases.  Mr. Hall began his career in public service.  He worked in the Cleveland County District Attorney’s office and served as the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission.  In October 2000, President Clinton nominated Mr. Hall to be a Federal Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.  He is an adjunct professor at the University of Oklahoma teaching classes in employment law and the civil rights movement.  Mr. Hall also serves on the Arvest Bank Board of Directors, the Executive Committee of the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies and the Board of Visitors of the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
In October 2013, Mr. Hall was presented with the Oklahoma Bar Association Diversity Committee’s Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher Diversity Award.
Mr. Hall received his Bachelor of Arts in Education degree from Langston University in 1978 and his Juris Doctor from the University Of Oklahoma College Of Law in 1981.