John M. O’Connor served as Oklahoma’s nineteenth Attorney General from 2021 to 2023.
John has practiced law in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He recently opened law offices in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. His practice is statewide. Before his term as Attorney General, John was in private practice at Hall Estill, a Tulsa-based law firm, with offices in Oklahoma City, Denver and Northwest Arkansas. Throughout his career, he has primarily focused on civil litigation including complex commercial and insurance litigation. He has also served as outside general counsel for numerous businesses of all sizes, structuring businesses and negotiating transactions. He also has represented state boards and commissions.
For each year since 1995, his peers have given John an AV rating through Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating of professional excellence and ethics at which an attorney can be ranked by peers. He has been recognized as an Oklahoma Super Lawyer, one of Oklahoma’s Top Rated Lawyers, and a Best Lawyer in America.
John was also one of 10 attorneys selected by the Editorial Board of the Tulsa Business Journal to be recognized among Tulsa’s 2012 Power Attorneys. Oklahoma U.S. Senators Jim Inhofe, James Lankford and Tom Coburn have all nominated John to the Whitehouse for federal judgeships. In 2018, President Donald Trump nominated O’Connor as a candidate for United States District Judge for the Northern, Western and Eastern Districts of Oklahoma.
O’Connor earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science/public administration from Oklahoma State University and a law degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law.
He is an active leader in the Tulsa community. John is a past-President of the Rotary Club of Tulsa. He formed and served two terms as President and Director of Tulsa’s Ronald McDonald House. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Dillon International, Inc., an intercountry adoption agency, and as vice-president of the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma State University Alumni Association. Until he became Attorney General, he also served on the Board of Trustees for OSU-Tulsa.
John and his wife, Lucia O’Connor, have been honored to chair fundraising efforts in Tulsa for the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma, the Tulsa Ronald McDonald House, OSU-Tulsa, The OSU Center for Health Sciences and other charitable programs and ministries.
A Tulsa native, O’Connor has been married to his wife Lucia for 44 years. Lucia was born and raised in Buffalo, Oklahoma. She is a former Miss Oklahoma. Her career has been in marketing and public relations. Lucia graduated from Oral Robert’s University in Tulsa. They have four children and 10 grandchildren.
Disclaimer: Mr. O’Connor is not engaged in the practice of law at American Global Strategies