Torvik, M. Ellen

Education:

• University of Oklahoma (J.D., 1963)
• Oklahoma State University (B.S., 1956)

B irth date: 1934

Bar admissions & years:

• Oklahoma - 1963
• U.S. District Court, E.D. of Oklahoma - 1965
• U.S. District Court, N.D. of Oklahoma - 1965
• U.S. District Court, W.D. of Oklahoma - 1965
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit - 1986
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit - 1981
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit - 1968
• U.S. Supreme Court - 1968

Memberships & Affiliations:

• Oklahoma County Bar Association
• Oklahoma Bar Association (ADR Committee Chairman)
• American Bar Association (TIPS Section, Litigation and ADR Committee)
• American College of Civil Trial Mediators
• American Judicature Society
• Association of Attorney-Mediators (National Director)
• Association of Trial Lawyers of America
• National Association of Attorney-Mediators (National Secretary)
• Robert J. Turner American Inns of Court (Master, President)

Other distinctions:

• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America (Corporate, Litigation)
• Association of Attorney-Mediators National President's Award 2000
• Oklahoma County Bar Association Bench and Bar Chair 1997 - 1998;
• Chairman's Award 1992 and 1997; Law Day Chair 1992; President's Award 1988
• Oklahoma Bar Association ADR Section Vice Chair 1995 - 1996; Bench and Bar Committee Chair 1997
• Author of "Mediation, the Mediator and the Environment," Journal of the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee 1996
• William J. Holloway American Inns of Court (Emeritus Master) 1990 - 1996
• Author of "Defense of the Intentional Tort," ABA Proceedings 1967
• Rose State College Adjunct Professor (Business Law and Torts Practice)
• Downtown Lions Club Board of Directors
• Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
• Oklahoma State Lions Board of the Service Foundation
• Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Former Chairman
• Downtown Lions Club President 1993 - 1994; District 3-H Zone Chairman 1995
• St. Luke's United Methodist Church Administrative Board Chairman 1979 - 1981; Finance
• Committee 1978; Long Range Planning Committee 1982; Board of Trustees 1998 - 2000
• United Methodist Church Oklahoma Annual Conference Board of Trustees 1990 - 1994; District Lay Leader 1986 - 1990; Goals and Policies Chairman 1988
• Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce Bicentennial Award 1976

Professional Profile

Mr. Tompkins has spent 35 years as a litigator primarily in federal court.

Mr. Tompkins is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association, the Oklahoma County Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He is licensed to practice before all Federal Courts in Oklahoma, and the 10th, 9th and 4th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

He is currently conducting mediations, arbitrations and early neutral evaluation for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma and the District Courts in Oklahoma. He is also involved as a mediator-arbitrator with the National Arbitration Forum, National Association of Securities Dealers, National Employment Mediation Service, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and other entities.

He has mediated over 400 cases with a 95% success rate. Mr. Tompkins has offered papers for the ABA section on litigation, "The Defense of Intentional Tort," and "The Mediator, Mediation and the Environment." He has been selected for "Who's Who In American Law," and "Best Lawyers in America, Corporate Litigation."

He is Past-President of Association of Attorney-Mediators. He has been the chairman of the Mediation Committee of the Oklahoma County Bar and conducted the first Settlement Week in Oklahoma County for the District Court. He has been the vice chairman of the OBA - ADR Committee, and currently serves as Chair of the OBA-ADR Section.

Mr. Tompkins is also an adjunct instructor in alternative dispute resolution at OU Law School.

Mr. Tompkins received the President's Award from the Oklahoma County Bar Association and numerous other awards and honors from the various professional groups to which he belongs, including the 2000 President's Award from the National Association of Attorney-Mediators. Tompkins has been elected as a national director of the National Association of Attorney-Mediators as its Secretary. Tompkins was elected a Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators. He is currently President of the Robert J. Turner American Inn of Court.