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Billy Michael Burrage (born June 9, 1950) is a Native American attorney and former United States district judge who served between 1994 and 2001.

A Choctaw Nation citizen born in Durant, Oklahoma, Burrage attended the Southeastern Oklahoma State University and University of Oklahoma College of Law before entering private practice in 1974. He was appointed to all three districts of the United States district courts for Oklahoma: the Eastern, Western and Northern in 1994 by President Bill Clinton. In 1996, he became Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Oklahoma, and served all three courts until his retirement in 2001.

After his federal retirement, he returned to private practice where he's represented clients such as the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the University of Oklahoma, the State of Oklahoma, and billionaire Harold Hamm. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2016.

Education, family, and early career

Billy Michael Burrage was born on June 9, 1950, in Durant, Oklahoma. He is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation. He lived in Sherman, Texas until 7th grade when his parents divorced. Afterward he lived with his mother in Antlers, Oklahoma. Burrage's brother Steve is a former Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector. Burrage's older son Sean served as a member of the Oklahoma Senate, and as the President of Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma from 2014 to 2018.

He went to college at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1971. He earned a Juris Doctor from University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1974. He went into private practice at the Stamper and Burrage law firm in Antlers, Oklahoma that year, working with them until 1994.

Federal judicial service

Burrage served as a United States district judge for all three of the United States district courts in Oklahoma—Western, Northern, and Eastern. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton on March 9, 1994, to the seat vacated by H. Dale Cook. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 8, 1994, and received his commission on June 9, 1994. In 1996 Burrage became the Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Oklahoma, serving until his resignation from the court on March 1, 2001. He continued to serve the other two district courts as well.

Between 1999 and 2002, Burrage, his brothers Steve and David, and Steve's wife Roberta, became the sole owners of FirstBank of Oklahoma.

Return to private practice

In 2001, Burrage returned to private law practice. He started The Burrage Law Firm with his younger son David and daughter-in-law Heather (née Hillburn) Burrage. In 2007, Burrage became a Managing Partner at a second law firm, the Whitten Burrage Law Firm.

In January 2015, Burrage represented billionaire Harold Hamm during his divorce case. In March, the University of Oklahoma hired Burrage to investigate the 2015 University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon racism incident. In 2016, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

In 2022, Burrage bought three condominiums in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for approximately $13.45 million. In February 2023, Attorney General of Oklahoma Gentner Drummond fired Whitten Burrage Law Firm from representing the state in opioid litigation. He alleged the firm had been paid $34 million dollars to represent the case by former Attorney Generals Michael J. Hunter and John M. O'Connor. Hunter hired the firm in a no bid contract which Drummond had previously criticized as an "insider deal."

Choctaw Nation representation

In 2016, Burrage represented the Choctaw Nation in water settlement negotiations between the nation, Chickasaw Nation, and Oklahoma over Sardis Lake. As a representative of the Choctaw Nation, Burrage testified before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in 2022 that the nation should not be forced to admit Choctaw freedmen as citizens because doing so would interfere with tribal sovereignty.

References

1. Confirmation hearings on federal appointments: hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, first session on confirmations of appointees to the federal judiciary.
2. ^ Henderson, Nancy (October 10, 2019). "Righting Wrongs: The Choctaw Nation's Michael Burrage makes opioid producers pay". Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Super Lawyers Magazine.
3. McNutt, Michael (July 11, 2008). "New auditor seeks to restore trust Former bank official ready to take on challenge". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
4. "Sean Burrage". ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
5. ^ "Burrage, Billy Michael". Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
6. "History of FirstBank". Our History. Atoka, Oklahoma: FirstBank. Archived from the original on 2017-04-26. Retrieved 2014-04-21.
7. ^ "Michael Burragem Class of 2016". oklahomahof.com. Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
8. "Oil Mogul Offers Ex-Wife $975M Divorce Check; She Says No". NBC News. Reuters. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
9. "University Of Oklahoma Hires Former Federal Judge To Assist In Fraternity Investigation". KGOU. Associated Press. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
10. Rohwedder, Cecilie (January 5, 2023). "After Catching Up to Its Neighbors, Fort Lauderdale Faces a New Challenge: The Housing Slowdown". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
11. Clay, Nolan (February 28, 2023). "New AG Gentner Drummond fires outside attorneys from opioid crisis litigation". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
12. Wertz, Joe; Layden, Logan (August 18, 2016). "With Water Settlement Inked, Tribes Now Selling The Details Back Home | StateImpact Oklahoma". StateImpact Oklahoma | Environment, Education, Energy, Health And Justice: Policy to People. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
13. James, Derrick (July 28, 2022). "Oklahoma tribes testify at U.S. Senate hearing over Freedmen". McAlester News Capital. McAlester, Oklahoma. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
14. Green, Lauren (July 28, 2022). "Oklahoma tribes split over status of descendants of their former slaves". Indian Country Today. Phoenix, Arizona. Gaylord News. Retrieved August 29, 2024.

See also

• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
• List of Native American jurists

• 1950 births
• Living people
• 20th-century American judges
• 21st-century American judges
• 20th-century American lawyers
• 21st-century American lawyers
• 20th-century Native Americans
• 21st-century Native Americans
• Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma people
• Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma
• Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma
• Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma
• Native American judges
• Native American lawyers
• People from Durant, Oklahoma
• People from Antlers, Oklahoma
• United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton