Berlin Law Firm December 2018

Berlin Law Firm December 2018

LEX CANIS THE

Timber and Tradition My Holiday Memories

I still vividly remember the way it felt to cross the threshold into that house when we brought the tree in: the warmth rushing to meet my prickling cheeks, the smells of last night’s Thanksgiving dinner mingling with the scent of the fresh pine we’d dragged back from the wilderness, and the crackling of the fireplace. The experience was like stepping into a Norman Rockwell painting. This holiday tradition never lost its magic. Even after the childhood talk and “revelation” about Santa Claus, this day was something I always looked forward to and understood was special. From spending the morning picking out a great tree, to the afternoon spent chopping a mound of firewood to keep us warm all winter, to an evening of eating leftovers and decorating, there was no better way to welcome the Christmas season. There are a lot of childhood memories we only realize are special after the fact. But this is one that I knew was special in the moment. Coming to Tulsa from the Montana wilderness, obviously my Christmas traditions have changed a lot. I can’t exactly grab an ax and head to LaFortune Park to get a Christmas tree — not that I’d need to anyway. You see, my wife and I have created a new, unique Christmas substitution of our own. A few years ago, during an after-Christmas sale at Restoration Hardware, my wife picked up these two metal “trees.” Not fake Christmas trees — in fact, they aren’t even pines. Don’t tell Estelle, but they look like a tree after a forest fire roared through. Essentially, they’re metal renditions of

stripped regular trees, with light bulbs for leaves. Estelle leaves them up year-round as decorative lamps.

When the Friday after Thanksgiving does roll around, we do hang an ornament or two on one of these metal tree limbs, in keeping with the spirit of the season. As big of a departure from

In the picture you see, the three smiling kids are my little brothers and me, having just hunted down that year’s Christmas tree. Every year on the Friday after Thanksgiving, our father would let us pile onto the sled behind his snowmobile and drive us up to the timberline of the mountain behind our ranch. We’d dismount, chainsaw or ax in hand, and begin our search for the perfect tree. Our annual tree hunts certainly beat Black Friday shopping. With basically a whole mountainside to choose from, we took our time finding the exact tree we wanted. With a Thanksgiving meal in our bellies and the excitement for Christmas in our minds, we’d easily spend an hour bounding through the snow and exploring old logging trails. Our only real concern was accidentally picking a tree that was too big for our home! Some years, our mom would tag along with us, but usually, when there was snow, she took it upon herself to go down to the tack room and pull out all of the Christmas decorations. By the time we got back, she’d have the Christmas music playing, the fire roaring, and the stockings hung.

1 Berlin Law Firm • DefendingTulsa.com Here’s to the magic of the season and REAL trees, - Lee Berlin my childhood as this sounds, I have come to accept it as opposed to doing what everyone else does by getting a regular old tree. When you’ve spent your childhood Christmases with a freshly cut tree in your household, store-bought pines or replicas just don’t do the job. So, we thought, better to have something radically different than something that misses the mark. (I secretly want a real Christmas tree again. Although she doesn’t read the newsletter, please do not tell her. She loves those burnt-renderings of trees.) From all of us here at the firm, I hope you and your family enjoy your own holiday traditions this month, whether you’re sticking with something from your childhood or trying something new.

THINGS ARE HAPPENING AT THE BERLIN LAW FIRM

We would like to welcome back Cyndie Wood to the Berlin Law Firm. Cyndie is our paralegal and a great asset to our firm. Her knowledge and experience had been greatly missed, along with her winning personality and “go get ‘em” attitude. Cyndie had to leave us for a short while, and we are certainly glad that she is back and part of our team. When asking Cyndie how she feels about being back with the winning team, her response was “I

UGLY SWEATER PARTIES A Fun Trend You Can Easily Follow! It’s speculated that the first ugly sweater party took place in Vancouver, Canada, back in 2001. Since then, the trend has become one of the most popular holiday party themes. Come Thanksgiving, you’ll start to see racks in all types of clothing stores lined with hideous sweaters. If you’re ready to jump on the ugly-sweater-party bandwagon this Christmas season, here a few things to keep in mind. Ugly sweaters come in all shapes, sizes, and prices. You can head to H&M or a local thrift store to pick one up. However, if you have a sweater that’s been cozied up for years in the back of your closet or a drawer, now’s your chance to give it new life. Arm yourself with a hot glue gun, thread, and needle, and patch Santa, Rudolph, or Frosty on it. And let it be known that an ugly sweater isn’t complete without sparkles, beads, and sequins galore. It’s rather simple — slip on your favorite Christmas sweater, gather all your friends and family members, make sure there are plenty of refreshments and games, and you’re guaranteed to have a top-tier party. A few ugly-sweater-themed games that should be on the agenda include an ugly gift exchange, which is similar to the white elephant exchange, except with the gaudiest gifts you can find; an ugly photo booth, complete with terrible, tacky props; and, of course, an ugly sweater contest. This is the only time of year when slipping into a lurid red sweater with a stuffed Santa sewn on the front is considered trendy. So adorn yourself in the frumpiest, tackiest sweater you can find, and have some fun this December! YOUR VERY OWN UGLY SWEATER WHAT EXACTLY IS AN UGLY SWEATER PARTY?

put the second ‘N’ in winning.” Her contagious laugh is nice to hear throughout the office again. Welcome back, Cyndie!

We are excited to announce our new

associate attorney Kyle Killam. Kyle has been the firm’s contract conflict counsel for the past few months and immediately formed a great working relationship with the Berlin Law Firm staff. After years of friendship and working cases together with Lee, it seemed the most natural next step to have him join our team. Kyle has 19 years of experience as a criminal defense attorney and his

dedication to his clients fits hand in hand with the Berlin Law Firm values. With Kyle joining our team, we forecast great things happening in the future. Welcome aboard, Kyle!

2 Berlin Law Firm • 918-770-0172

Oklahoma Issues New Laws for Past and Future Offenders

How to Access the Sex Offender Registry

Sex crimes occur more often than anyone really knows. Fortunately, for the victims of these crimes and their families who do report and have the offender successfully prosecuted, the laws are constantly being revised in order to hold convicted sex offenders more accountable for their crimes. Convicted sex offenders are required to register as sex offenders with the State of Oklahoma. Once registered, the offender is logged in to the state’s sex offender >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

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