Reggie Whitten - Oklahoma City, OK

Overview

Reggie Whitten is Co-Founder of Whitten Burrage. In 2013, Reggie was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, and in 2015, the University of Oklahoma inducted him into the Order of the Owl College of Law Hall of Fame and later that year presented Reggie with an honorary doctoral degree for his contributions to the university, state and nation. Reggie has been inducted into the prestigious fellowship of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Reggie is from Seminole, Oklahoma, and was the first of his family to graduate from college. He received a Bachelor's degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1977 and his Juris Doctorate from OU Law in 1980.

In 2008, Reggie and his law partner Michael Burrage obtained one of the largest verdicts in the United States, Burgess v. Farmers Insurance Co. It is believed to be the largest verdict in State of Oklahoma history.

He is past president of the Oklahoma Association for Justice and has been the recipient of several honors including Journal Record Leadership in Law, Oklahoma Association of Justice Tommy D. Frasier Award, and the Oklahoma Bar Association Trailblazer Award.

In 2004, Reggie co-founded the Whitten-Newman Family Foundation in memory of his eldest son, Brandon Whitten, who passed away in 2002 as a result of a traffic accident caused by alcohol and drug addiction. Reggie and his lifelong friend, John Hargrave, created the Brandon Whitten Institute for Addiction and Recovery and FATE (Fighting Addiction Through Education). Reggie has spoken to thousands of high school and college students throughout Oklahoma about the dangers of addiction and substance abuse.

In partnership with the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, Reggie's family foundation co-founded the ExplorOlogy and Native Explorers educational programs which has impacted over 50,000 young people in Oklahoma. His family foundation is also the leading supporter of Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, of Gulu, Uganda, a CNN Heroes Award recipient and the first Veritis Splendor laureate, in honor of Saint John Paul II. Reggie has co-authored two books about his life experiences, titled, What's Your Fate?, and Sewing Hope. He also served as Executive Producer of the Netflix documentary, Sewing Hope, a powerful film about Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, narrated by Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker. Finally, Reggie served as Executive Producer of the docuseries Killing Pain, which won three regional Emmy awards.