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Don A. Schooler is the General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Oklahoma Department of Labor. He attended Oklahoma State University where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science in 1990. He attended the College of Law at the University of Oklahoma where he obtained a Juris Doctorate degree in 1993. He had a private practice in Lawton, OK, focused mainly on family law and bankruptcy, prior to taking employment as in-house counsel for Storm Manufacturing, Inc. His legal services at Storm Manufacturing, Inc. focused primarily on contracts and collections. In August of 1996, he took employment with the Oklahoma Department of Labor as Senior Assistant Counsel where his job duties included both the prosecution and education of Oklahoma employers in matters regarding accrued wages and benefits, violation of Oklahoma’s Child Labor laws and, failure to maintain Workers’ Compensation Insurance. In January of 2006, he was named General Counsel, supervising three attorneys and two support staff, advising administration and the agency on legal matters, and defending agency appeals. In April of 2007, he moved to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission as Assistant General Counsel, Public Utility Division where he was employed through 2011. At the Corporation Commission he primarily worked with the telecommunications industry and electric, water, and natural gas utilities; he was counsel in several multi-billion dollar rates cases; drafted regulatory guidelines and statutory language; and, provided legal research and advice to the three Corporation Commissioners and their administrative staffs. He returned to the Oklahoma Department of Labor in January of 2011 where he has resumed his previous responsibilities from 2007. He is a frequent speaker on Oklahoma’s Title 40, “The Protection of Labor Act;” the Oklahoma Department of Labor’s wage claim, child labor, and workers’ comp insurance enforcement procedures; overtime changes in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act; and various other employment matters. He is married to his wife, Kim of 17 years and has two sons, Greer and Grayson. |