From: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Our December 2008 Member of the Month, Elaine Dowling (Oklahoma City, OK) is well known to NACBA members as an active listserv participant.  A named member in the firm Dowling & Dowling (“The other Dowling is my father - we disagree about whose is the first name in the firm”), Elaine takes pride on handling client matters from start to finish: “As a practical matter, I am the only person in my office most of the time.  I am far too big of a control freak to use support staff effectively – so I don't bother.”

Elaine’s practice is limited to representing people struggling to handle their financial obligations which, as Elaine points out laughingly, “creates something of an administrative challenge.” She values her low overhead practice; not having to pay support staff enables her to charge less and serve fewer people and still maintain her practice.

As a new lawyer, Elaine worked for a downtown commercial litigation boutique firm that she observes “specialized in important cases – and charged accordingly.” 

Elaine received her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Oklahoma in 1985, then went on to receive her J.D.  also from the University of Oklahoma in 1990 , where she graduated Order of the Coif.

Reflecting on her involvement with NACBA, Elaine remarked, “I can no longer imagine practicing bankruptcy law without NACBA.  Between the continuing education that is focused directly on what I do every day to the listserv with 800+ of the best lawyers in the country forming a pooled resource so that we can all learn from each others' experiences, it is easily the best value for the money of any professional organization I have ever been a part of.”  Elaine has also assisted with NACBA’s Amicus Project, having served as local counsel in the filing of the amicus brief written by the law professors in In re Hunt (a 10th Circuit negative equity case later dismissed as moot).

In terms of hobbies, Elaine prides herself on being “one of 33,000+ nutcases from 90-some-odd countries who got together through a web page to buy a minor league English soccer team (Ebbsfleet United).”