After successfully passing the rigorous bar exam, prospective new attorneys from the state’s three law schools typically can look forward to a prestigious ceremony formally admitting them to the state bar.

Unfortunately for the 215 law school graduates who passed the bar this summer, that ceremony in front of an audience of more than 1,000 friends and family and including an oath administered by the state Supreme Court chief justice, has become another casualty of the pandemic.

For Kingfisher County’s newest attorney Will Blocker, an intern and soon-to-be associate at Harrison & Mecklenburg in Kingfisher, the alternative was a much more intimate affair.

Blocker was sworn in last Friday by Associate District Judge Lance Schneiter at the county courthouse, with just his immediate family and fellow attorneys Randy Mecklenburg, Jared Harrison and Emily Stoner in attendance, and other coworkers and supporters watching via Facebook Live.

(H&M founding partner Ralph Harrison, who watched the ceremony live from Colorado, was sworn into practice on the same date 45 years ago.) Schneiter said all state court judges had received an email from the state Supreme Court informing them that they had the authority to swear in new attorneys under an alternative oath administration procedure.

Attorneys also had the option of participating in a virtual ceremony Sept. 22 or an abbreviated outdoor event the day before on the steps of the Justice Center.

Schneiter said he was honored to play a role in Blocker’s admission to practice.

“It’s unfortunate for the new attorneys that there isn’t a large formal swearing in ceremony this year,” Schneiter said. “But it’s pretty cool for me.”

The 2020 outstanding law graduate at Oklahoma City University School of Law, Blocker was a Hatton Sumners Scholar and distinguished law review member who authored a published article exploring fracking and unlawful trespass. He also holds a certificate in energy law.

Prior to attending law school, Blocker worked in the heating, air conditioning and appliance repair business. While at OCU, he clerked for Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Kauger and interned at Harrison & Mecklenburg for a year and a half.

Blocker and his wife Lynn live in Kingfisher with their three sons, Kyson, 12; Clayton, 9, and Wyatt, 5.

He grew up in Oklahoma and Texas and describes himself as “a small town advocate.”

“We are extremely happy to be living here in Kingfisher after the last three years in Edmond,” Blocker said. “We have always been small town people until law school, and it is a relief to be out of the city.”