Obituaries
Invoice Paul, ABA’s first Native American president, dies at 94
July 1, 2025, 1:34 pm CDT
William G. Paul launched the ABA Authorized Alternative Scholarship Fund throughout his time in workplace. (Photograph courtesy of Crowe & Dunlevy)
William G. Paul, the ABA’s first Native American president, died on June 24 on the age of 94.
Paul, who was referred to as Invoice, led the ABA from 1999-2000. He was a agency believer in growing variety within the authorized career. When the ABA’s Authorized Alternative Scholarship Fund was established, the preliminary $100,000 was donated by Paul, his spouse, Barbara, and his longtime agency, Crowe & Dunlevy.
Throughout his time period, Paul additionally presided alongside Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair over the rededication of the affiliation’s Magna Carta monument in England.
He acquired the ABA Spirit of Excellence award in 2002.
“Invoice Paul’s integrity, knowledge and unwavering dedication to justice left an enduring mark on the authorized career and the American Bar Affiliation,” ABA President William R. Bay stated in a information launch. “He was greater than a task mannequin—he was an ethical compass and a real chief. He believed deeply in creating alternative for individuals who had lengthy been ignored, and his imaginative and prescient for a extra various and inclusive career continues to information us.”
Paul graduated from the College of Oklahoma in 1952 and the College of Oklahoma College of Regulation in 1956. Throughout this time, he additionally spent two years on energetic responsibility with the U.S. Marine Corps, which included serving in Korea.
After graduating from regulation faculty, Paul joined Crowe & Dunlevy in Oklahoma Metropolis, Oklahoma. He was with the agency for all however 10 of the subsequent 69 years, in accordance with an obituary posted on its web site. From 1985 to 1995, he was normal counsel and senior vp of Phillips Petroleum.
Paul served as president of the Oklahoma Bar Affiliation in 1976 and the Nationwide Convention of Bar Presidents in 1986. He was named to the Oklahoma Corridor of Fame in 2003 and inducted into the Chickasaw Corridor of Fame in 2004. Based on the Chickasaw Corridor of Fame, Paul’s great-grandfather was a senator within the Chickasaw Nation within the nineteenth century.
Martha Barnett, who served as ABA president instantly after Paul, praised his character within the affiliation’s information launch, calling him “a gentleman and certainly a prince.”
Paul’s funeral companies will likely be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma Metropolis on July 24 at 2 p.m., with a reception following, in accordance with the agency’s obituary.
“Invoice lived a beautiful and full 94 (and a half, he would remind us) years, and we’re all a lot richer for it,” Crowe & Dunlevy wrote. “Though many people will grieve the lack of his presence, we may even cherish and have a good time the noble and brave life he lived.”
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