Discovery with Sheila D. Stinson

The Edmond attorney on Strom Thurmond, jury clothing etiquette and the joy of being hyper-organize

Published in 2016 Oklahoma Super Lawyers magazine

By Sheila D. Stinson on October 10, 2016

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I can’t go a day without … checking my to-do list and snuggling with my kiddos. 

My colleagues would be surprised to know that … I like super girly rom-com movies. 

When I was a newbie lawyer I … had a judge make me show him my bar card to argue my motion. 

The quality I most like in a lawyer is … decency. 

My pre-trial routine is … preparation, preparation and more preparation. And some color-coding.

When I started, I wish I knew … to take lots of notes—lots and lots of notes. 

My career high point (so far) has been … opening my own firm. 

If I weren’t a lawyer, I’d be … a professional organizer. 

I almost quit the law … to be an international buyer for a construction equipment company.

The SCOTUS justice I’d like to meet is … John Roberts.

A different practice area that intrigues me is … campaign/election law.

I can’t believe more people haven’t read … The U.S. Constitution.

My fictional hero is … Leslie Knope. 

The last TV show I binge-watched was … House of Cards.

Nothing cheers me up like … my children’s giggles. 

My guilty pleasure is … potato chips.

If I won the lottery I’d … travel.

If I had a morning show, my co-host would be … Charles Barkley.

The three people I’d invite to dinner are … Barbara Bush, Dolly Parton and Tina Fey.

The book I just don’t get is … The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

The movie line I quote most often is … “You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.”

My most bizarre talent is … guessing numbers: ages, weights, distances—all kinds of numbers. It’s weird. 

The most fascinating person I ever met is … Strom Thurmond. I interned for the U.S. Senate and then-Oklahoma Sen. Don Nickles, and by then [Thurmond] was in his later 90s. He made me stand by him in our photograph and, when the picture was taken, he was actually being a little inappropriate. So the photograph is of me with a look of complete bewilderment and shock that a 99-year-old was getting handsy—especially in light of the current situation, which was President Clinton’s impeachment trial. My parents still have it hanging up on one of their walls in their body shop because it is so hilarious. 

The craziest thing I witnessed in a courtroom is … a juror wearing overalls—with no shirt.

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