Experience | Recent Appeals
Daphne’s experience runs the gamut from adoption and family law appeals, to appeals and dispositive briefs in other civil matters such as torts, probate, breach of contract, employment law, medical devices litigation, constitutional law, construction defects, condemnation, and others, to federal criminal appeals while serving on the CJA (Criminal Justice Act) Panel for a U.S. Court of Appeals.
Here are some of the most recent appeals*:
Probate
Matter of Estate of Landing, 2023 OK 117, 539 P.3d 1286. The Oklahoma Supreme Court retained this interlocutory appeal, sua sponte, to interpret and clarify interrelated provisions of the Oklahoma probate code, including 58 O.S. §§ 122, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 132, 134, 135, 137, and 138 to hold that family members may not intervene at any time without cause to remove and replace a duly appointed administrator of an intestate’s estate.
Guardianship of T.A.J., No. 123,128 (Okla. Sup. Ct., Oct. 20, 2025). After the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, the Court granted appellees’ request for appeal-related attorney fees and sanctions pursuant to Oklahoma Supreme Court Rule 1.2 due to appellant’s repeated violations of the Oklahoma Supreme Court Rules.
Family Law
Williams v. Williams, 2024 OK CIV APP 8, 544 P.3d 960, cert. denied (Okla. Sup. Ct., Dec. 11, 2023). In a reversal and rare win in an appeal involving the application of Thielenhaus v. Thielenhaus, 1995 OK 5, 890 P.2d 925, to the enhanced value of a business which one spouse claimed as separate property, the Court of Civil Appeals agreed with appellant-wife that “‘it was obvious from the record’ that the business increased in value during the marriage and that this increase was ‘effected through the joint efforts and skill of both parties,’ thus requiring an award to Wife of an equitable portion of this enhancement value.”
Burton v. Burton, No. 120,541 (OK CIV APP Div. I, June 23, 2023) (unpublished). In the appeal of an order in this divorce proceeding, the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the denial of the husband’s request for tax-exemption credits for previous years, and granted appellee’s appeal-related attorney fees and costs.
Adoptions
Matter of Adoption of S.G.D., No. 121,576 (OK CIV APP Div. I, Apr. 2, 2024) (unpublished), cert. denied (Okla. Sup. Ct., Sept. 23, 2024). The Court of Civil Appeals reversed the decision of the trial court which denied an application for an order determining a minor child eligible for adoption without the consent of biological father. The Court of Civil Appeals agreed with the appellants-adoptive parents that the father’s failure to establish and/or maintain a substantial and positive relationship with his child in accordance with 10 O.S. § 7505-4.2(H)(1) was due to his own actions in failing to file a required mental health assessment with the guardianship court, which prevented him from being granted access to the child.
Matter of Adoption of A.B.B., No. 120,686 (OK CIV APP Div. I, June 13, 2023) (unpublished). During the course of the biological parents’ divorce action proceedings, the mother made one child support payment to the father pursuant to an agreed order but made no further payments due to the order not being submitted to the court. The mother thereafter argued in the adoption proceeding that she could not be found to have failed to support her child under 10 O.S. § 7505-4.2(B)(1) because she was not ordered to pay child support. Instead, the trial court found that the mother willfully failed, refused, and neglected to contribute to her child’s support according to her financial ability in violation of 10 O.S. § 7505-4.2(B)(2) and held, therefore, that the mother’s consent was not necessary for the child to be adopted, which the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed on appeal.
Matter of Adoption of D.S.J.H. and J.D.T., No. 120,180 (OK CIV APP Div. I, July 22, 2022) (unpublished). The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the decision of the trial court that the minor children could be adopted without the mother’s consent due to her failure to take legal action pursuant to 10 O.S. § 7505-4.2 to enforce visitation rights in the minor children’s guardianship case though she claimed the guardian prevented her from establishing and maintaining a substantial and positive relationship with the children.
Matter of Adoption of A.L.G., No. 120,020 (OK CIV APP Div. I, June 20, 2022) (unpublished). The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the decision of the trial court that the mother’s consent was not necessary for the minor child to be adopted pursuant to 10 O.S. § 7505-4.2, finding that the mother “failed to undertake her statutory duty as a parent to support [the minor child] and [instead] viewed that . . . duty to be the guardians’ responsibility.” The Court of Civil Appeals otherwise held that the adoptive parents proved by clear and convincing evidence that adoption was in the child’s best interests.
Matter of Adoption of E.C.I.W. and I.N.W., No. 121,190 (OK CIV APP Div. III, Apr. 18, 2024) (unpublished), cert. denied (Okla. Sup. Ct., Sept. 9, 2024). The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the decision of the trial court that the minor children could be adopted without the consent of the biological mother for failing to establish and/or maintain a substantial and positive relationship with the children contrary to 10 O.S. § 7505-4.2(H)(1); failing to take legal action despite claims that the children’s guardian prevented her from maintaining such a relationship, contrary to 10 O.S. § 7505-4.2(H)(2); and for willfully failing, refusing, or neglecting to contribute to the support of the children according to her ability contrary to 10 O.S. § 7505-4.2(B)(2).
*Past results afford no guarantee of future results. Every case is different.