Friday, November 18, 2011

Fallin's Husband Gets Legal Work Green Light

The Oklahoman's Michael McNutt reports that Governor Fallin's husband, Wade Christensen, has been given the green light to represent several government entities.

Writes McNutt: The governor's husband, an attorney, may do legal work for the state's largest university or represent the state's workers' compensation agency, the state Ethics Commission ruled Thursday.

The interpretation of the ethics rules by commissioners was unanimous. It mirrors an opinion released two months ago by the state attorney general's office.

Gov. Mary Fallin asked for both reviews.

When Fallin took office this year, her husband, Wade Christensen, had already resigned from the law firm he had been with for nearly 20 years and started his own practice.

He plans on continuing with his current practice, Christensen & Associates, a spokeswoman for Christensen said Thursday.

Christensen, who specializes in workers' compensation cases, said earlier he branched out on his own because clients for his previous law firm, Day, Edwards, Propester & Christensen, included the University of Oklahoma and CompSource Oklahoma, the state's workers' compensation agency. He wanted to avoid claims of favoritism or a conflict of interest.

Ethics commissioners determined that the state's ethics rules do not prohibit Christensen from providing legal services to either CompSource or OU.

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