Attorney finds success with philosophy

He said he’s always enjoyed coming to work. He’s roamed the sidelines with former OU coach Barry Switzer and today maintains that long association. And at age 70, Terry West said he has no plans to retire or stop what he is doing.
“Enjoy what you are doing and treat people right. That’s kind of our philosophy and it seems to have worked out,” the veteran trial lawyer said.
He said, “I value loyalty and friendships more than things. You are supposed to be loyal to your friends and the people you work with, help them when they need it and expect that in reverse.”
West grew up in the small Pontotoc County community of Francis between here and Ada. There were 12 students in the first grade who went through school together and graduated in 1956. “Of those, six of us got college degrees, and five of them were school teachers. Pretty good percentage to graduate from a rural school,” he said.
He attended his first year of college at what is now East Central State University, going on to The University of Oklahoma the following two years. He landed a job as a writer (his undergraduate degree is in journalism) at the Ada paper, and they offered him a job with the weekly paper as the editor. He did that for about four months, before Sunray DX in Tulsa hired him in its Public Relations Department to edit three monthly papers in Tulsa, Duncan and Corpus Christi, Texas. West spent three years doing that.
“I realized I wasn’t going to ever run that oil company,” he said, adding “so I decided to go to law school at Tulsa University at night while working there.”
He graduated from law school in 3 1/2 years, then headed to Shawnee in 1965. He joined County Judge Charles Henry as his juvenile officer, and after Henry ran for the district judgeship and was defeated, they opened a law practice together on the west side of Broadway. Charles Henry, who passed away several years ago, was the father of Gov. Brad Henry.
In 1975 they built a new office at the corner of Tenth and Broadway. Later, Robert Henry, Charles’ nephew, and the governor’s first cousin, would join their law firm, and he would go on to serve as the state’s attorney general before his selection as the OCU Law School dean.
Henry now serves as chief judge of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
West said that when he and Charles Henry opened their practice “it helped me a great deal to become well-rounded.”
He recalled a case against U.S. Steel which he tried in Oklahoma County district court as being one he will never forget.
His client had been paralyzed in an industrial accident. Today, in his office, he still has the chain and the broken link which were key pieces of evidence which produced a $750,000 judgment in his client’s favor.
“It was the first major products liability case, and Robert Henry was working for us then,” he said.
West has served twice as president of the Oklahoma Trial Lawyers Association. His son Brad, also a lawyer in the firm, was president of the organization last year.
West’s other son, Bart, is a legal assistant with the firm, and there are two other lawyers, Greg Luther and Shawn Spencer. Luther has been with the firm about a year, Spencer just a few months.
West and his wife Terri have two daughters, Sabrina and Brigette, and three grandchildren. Bart has a 10-year-old son and Brigette has two-year-old twins.
He spends most of his time doing settlement discussions rather than depositions or the grunt work he was involved in for such a long time. “But I don’t have any plans to quit,” he stressed.
His long association with former OU and Dallas Cowboys head coach Barry Switzer began when he became a member of the Oklahoma Judicial Nomination Commission, first in 1977 for a six-year term, and again from 1989-1995. In 1994-1995 he served as chairman.
“That is the commission which makes recommendations to the governor for judgeships,” he said. “Six of the commission members are appointed by the governor, six are elected by the bar association and the 13th is chosen by the commission.”
Although he didn’t know Switzer at the time, on a whim, he recommended the famous OU coach, and the commission agreed. “He was a good member of the commission. He came to the meetings, he studied the material beforehand.”
That was the beginning of a close association and friendship that continues today. West roamed the OU sidelines at Switzer’s request and traveled regularly with the team. He even had a locker in the OU dressing room.
He recalled a game OU was playing at Missouri. West said Switzer didn’t often call the plays, but on that critical down against the Tigers he told those on the other end, “I don’t care what play you call, but little Joe (OU great Joe Washington) better be carrying the ball when it ends.”
OU went on to win the game and a national championship that year under Switzer.
West said he continued to be part of the OU contingent throughout the ’80s until Switzer’s career at OU ended in 1989.
West said, “I see people in all walks of life.” He thinks they try to make things more difficult than they are. “With a little reason, we can avoid hurting people.
“If it’s not a problem, I don’t worry about it. If it’s nothing but a perceived problem, I don’t worry,” he said.
“We want the workplace to be a fun place. We put enjoying our work before profits,” he said, “we probably reduce fees a significant amount of time.
“We really try to make people pleased with what we are doing.”
West summarized his philosophy, ending with “work things out to protect your client. Most things can be resolved. I just insist you give things a chance to work it out.”