OU Law Conversations: Kent Meyers

Harvard Law School, LLM, 1976
University of Oklahoma College of Law, 1964

What led you to law school and what did attending OU Law mean to you?

I stumbled into law school because I thought as an undergraduate that I would do a combined degree program. I had one year of law school and thought it was fine. I was distracted so I didn’t have much time to form too many opinions about it, but I had two years of active duty in the army following that. I went to my undergraduate graduation in uniform and had to go straight to my car to report for duty. The two years in the army did great things for me. I was fortunate enough to have a really good experience. I decided in the army to go back to law school and finish my degree, which is what I did. At the end of my second year in law school, Crowe and Dunlevy called me to offer a summer internship. When I worked at Crowe, I realized that I really enjoyed the practice of law.

What are some of your favorite memories from OU Law?

My favorite professor was Eugene Kuntz who was, at that time, teaching all of the oil and gas classes that were offered. And not only was he my favorite professor, he hired me to be his research assistant. The last two years of my law school career, I did business research and worked for Dean Kuntz. He had a rule in every class he covered six cases. He told me that every class when he called on students, if that student didn’t want to respond to the questions, then I was expected to respond. In every class, I recited about three of the six cases because someone would turn him down or be absent. I came out of the class knowing a lot more about oil and gas than I thought I would. The hard part was being prepared every class period for him to call on me!

We hear a lot of positive memories about Eugene Kuntz. What do you think made him so memorable?

His humility for one thing. He had credentials that nobody could match, and yet, he was always humble, kind and pleasant. I spent a lot of one-on-one time with him and he never changed. He was a renaissance man. When the faculty would put on a show for the student body, he would sing and play the Zither. He had a gorgeous baritone voice. He was multitalented and had a collegial and congenial personality to supplement it to make him just really a wonderful human being.

What is your advice for current students and recent graduates?

Complete the task that needs to be completed. If you have two tasks, complete the hardest one first. I see too many law students spending too much time on studying for the classes that they enjoy instead of the classes that may be a lot more challenging. One of the major reasons young lawyers may come to our firm and then leave is because the young lawyer might have been really enthusiastic about a particular portion of a case and not focus on the rest of it.

Biography

Kent Meyers’ practice focuses on commercial litigation and antitrust law. He has tried numerous antitrust and complex commercial litigation cases, in addition to handling patent, copyright and trademark matters. Meyers also handles arbitration matters both as counsel for litigants and as an arbitrator.

Meyers has published more than a dozen articles, is a frequent lecturer and cohosts The Verdict, a weekly local television show. He also serves as an adjunct professor of law at University of Oklahoma College of Law, University of Tulsa Law School and Oklahoma City University Law School. He was a distinguished lecturer in law at Brasenose College, Oxford University as well. Kent founded the Crowe & Dunlevy International Professorship Program, which brings a foreign Harvard LL.M. or S.J.D. graduate to the University of Oklahoma College of Law to teach under the sponsorship of Crowe & Dunlevy.