Spencer Fane LLP is pleased to announce John Dorman and Betsey Streuli have joined the firm as attorneys in Oklahoma City. Dorman reenters private practice in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group after accomplished tenures as a municipal attorney, while Streuli provides notable depth to the Environmental and Energy Practice Group after serving as Senior Water Quality Attorney in the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.
“Spencer Fane maintains a focus on measurable, sustainable growth that addresses the pressing needs of our clients in the markets where they do business,” said Shannon Davies, Office Managing Partner for Spencer Fane in Oklahoma City. “This includes identifying attorneys with practical experience, often from legal work done in high-profile governmental roles. We are excited to add John and Betsey to our office knowing they will immediately be valuable resources to both their colleagues and our growing client base.”
Before joining Spencer Fane, Dorman served as City Attorney for the city of Stillwater, Oklahoma, after previous time spent as Assistant City Attorney for the cities of Edmond and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and Litigation Division Manager for the city of Tulsa. In Stillwater, he served as the chief legal officer for a community home to Oklahoma State University and managed a municipal department that rendered all legal services, including litigation, for the city council and its subordinate entities. This also included being directly responsible for handling complex transactional, real estate, and regulatory matters.
Dorman oversaw all federal and state litigation and associated appeals, workers’ compensation claims, processing and disposition of state tort claims, and civil service commission prosecutions as head of a division for the city of Tulsa. For the city of Broken Arrow, he acted as primary legal advisor to the planning and code enforcement departments, defending zoning appeals and prosecuting condemnation actions in state courts.
In addition to his legal work, Dorman maintained active membership with the Oklahoma Association of Municipal Attorneys and International Municipal Lawyers Association, which included multiple leadership positions. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Central Oklahoma, earned an M.A. in political science and public administration from the University of Oklahoma, and earned his Juris Doctor from the Oklahoma City University School of Law.
Streuli brings almost two decades of environmental regulatory experience to Spencer Fane after most recently serving in the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality’s Water Quality Division from 2004 through 2021. While there, she represented the State in highly complex and technical drinking water compliance cases that involved both state and federal law, including the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. She has worked with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), municipalities, corporate entities, individuals, agencies and Native American tribes on a variety of compliance issues involving state and federal environmental statutes and regulations.
Extensive time as an environmental regulatory insider allows Streuli to offer clients firsthand knowledge of permitting and rulemaking processes, enforcement procedures, state and federal environmental regulatory policy, and EPA programs. She has managed municipal, industrial and stormwater NPDES permitting issues, reporting and compliance. She has addressed environmental issues involving public water supplies, wastewater treatment facilities, impoundment facilities and small public and private wastewater programs. She has also addressed other areas of environmental compliance, such as air pollution, solid and hazardous wastes, water reuse, aquifer storage and recovery and produced water.
Streuli completed her undergraduate studies at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, and earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Tulsa College of Law.
