Legal Industry
OPVEON is pleased to feature Bill Fiasco, a trial attorney who holds over 25 years of experience trying all types of cases in front of juries throughout Oklahoma. Mr. Fiasco is a partner in the firm Atkinson, Haskins, Nellis, Brittingham, Gladd & Fiasco in Tulsa, OK.
Mr. Fiasco received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Oklahoma. While in law school, he was inducted into the Order of the Barristers, was named an Ungerman Scholar, an American College of Trial Lawyers scholar, won the First-Year Appellate Advocacy Competition, won the Albert C. Hunt Practice Court Award, and was a two-year member of the National Trial Team.
In 1988, immediately upon graduation from law school, Mr. Fiasco took employment with the firm he is a partner in now.
Mr. Fiasco has litigated and tried cases in state and federal courts across the state of Oklahoma. He has defended medical professionals, institutional, and corporate defendants against claims of medical negligence, product liability, bad faith and contract claims. He has defended individuals in claims arising from motor vehicle accidents. He has defended commercial businesses in premises liability claims. He has also defended professionals in construction litigation claims.
Mr. Fiasco is a Martindale-Hubbell “AV-Preeminent” rated attorney. Since 2006, Mr. Fiasco has continuously been named Super Lawyer in Oklahoma, year after year. He has also had the great honors of being inducted as a Fellow in the American Bar Foundation and inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Mr. Fiasco is a member of the Tulsa County, Oklahoma, and American Bar Associations. He is a member of the Defense Research Institute and serves on their Trial Tactics and Medical Liability and Health Care Law Committees. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel. He is also a member of the Oklahoma Association of Defense Counsel.
Q&A with Bill Fiasco
Q: What motivates you to do your best work for your clients?
A With very few exceptions, my clients are all intellectually and emotionally invested in the process, while at the same time anxious about the idea that the law and medicine don’t get along well. I’m motivated to reduce that anxiety level as much as possible.
Q: What do you consider to be the most rewarding part of your career?
A: It’s tempting and easy to answer this by talking about “results,” and “justice,” and those things are definitely rewarding, but what first comes to mind are the opportunities I’ve had to meet and develop relationships with innumerable smart, principled, thoughtful people. This includes other lawyers, judges, clients and expert witnesses.
Q: As a trial attorney defending malpractice cases, what traits do you think are the most important for a defense lawyer to possess?
A: It takes a significant level of intellectual curiosity. While most physicians have probably forgotten more medicine than I’ve learned in over 30 years, it’s still true that it would have been extremely difficult for me to defend physicians without understanding what they do on at least some basic level.
Q: What is a trial preparation tip that you would share with a young attorney trying his/her first case?
A: That trial preparation really begins when you file a responsive pleading after first receiving the case. Start thinking about jury instructions when you draft your answer. These can serve as benchmarks for your discovery and trial issues. As you are truly beginning trial preparation, everything you do should be designed to help the jury understand and resolve those issues. This hopefully keeps you away from the dreaded weeds and the even more dreaded rabbit holes.
Q: Outside of work, what do you do for fun?
A: Not a lot of people know this, but I am a songwriter. I am a hack, but I am enjoying learning the craft of it. It is a fascinating process at times.
Q: 2020 was a messy year. What are you looking forward to most in 2021?
A: I have two daughters in college. I’d very much like for them to get something close to a “normal” college experience. I know that’s a “first world problem,” but I cop to it.
