THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL 48 | SEPTEMBER 2024 Women in Law Mona Salyer Lambird MONA SALYER LAMBIRD WAS BORN JULY 19, 1938, and was raised in Oklahoma City. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in 1960 from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and an LL.B. in 1963 from the University of Maryland Law School, where she was one of three women in a class of 100. She began her legal career in the civil division of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., during the time Robert Kennedy was the attorney general. After a move to Oklahoma City in 1969, Ms. Lambird associated part time with a bond attorney. In 1971, she joined the Oklahoma City law firm of Andrews Davis Legg Bixler Milsten & Price, becoming a shareholder in 1977. Her practice was primarily in employment law on behalf of management. Ms. Lambird was extremely active in Oklahoma Bar Association activities. She served as chairperson of the Women in Law Conference in 1992 and 1994, served on the Professional Responsibility Tribunal from 1984 to 1990, served as co-chairperson of the Leadership Development Conference in 1992 and 1993, and served as a member of the Budget Committee from 1989 to 1994 and the Clients’ Security Fund Committee from 1989 to 1994. She was the second woman elected to the Board of Governors for a three-year term, serving as a member from 1992 to 1994 before being elected to serve as 1995 president-elect. On Jan. 19, 1996, she took the oath of office to become the first woman to lead the Oklahoma Bar Association. Following her year as OBA president, she continued to be active and served on the OBA Long Range Planning Committee in 1999 as one of the authors helping to develop a new strategic plan. Her other professional activities included serving on the American Judicature Society Board of Trustees, Oklahoma County Bar Association past president, Luther Bohanon American Inn of Court XXIII past president, Oklahoma State Election Board member, ABA Committee on the Federal Judiciary member, American Bar Foundation and Oklahoma Bar Foundation Fellow. Ms. Lambird was also a community leader. She served as legal advisor for the Junior League of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City Orchestra League and Autumn House I and II. She was a past director of RSVP of Oklahoma County, Friends of the Library and the Center for Nonprofit Management. She was also a member of Historic Preservation Inc. She was honored as The Journal Record’s 1969 Corporate Woman of the Year, inducted into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame in 1995 and, in 1996, received the Oklahoma City Public School Foundation’s Wall of Fame Humanitarian Award. Mona Salyer Lambird was killed Aug. 25, 1999, in a vehicle accident that also claimed the lives of her husband, Dr. Perry Lambird, and her daughter, Jennifer, while vacationing in Turkey. In a 1996 Oklahoma Bar Journal interview, Ms. Lambird said her favorite recreation activity was “exploring international capital cities and discovering their uniqueness.” Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.
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