UTulsa Law Alumni Gala

Neil E. Bogan was born October 21, 1945, in Des Moines, Iowa. Bogan and his family moved to Tulsa in 1960, where he graduated from Cascia Hall Prepatory School in 1963. After graduating from Cascia Hall, Bogan attended the University of Oklahoma, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. After graduating from OU, Bogan attended The University of Tulsa College of Law, earning his Juris Doctor in 1970. Bogan married his high school sweetheart, Carolyn Martin (now Carolyn Gill), in Sharp Chapel on the UTulsa campus on August 9, 1968. Bogan and Carolyn have three children, Tiffany, Tyler and Tadd, and five grandchildren.

Bogan began his legal career with the law firm of Jones, Givens, Gotcher & Doyle, now Jones, Gotcher & Bogan, in 1970, and quickly became an officer and shareholder of the firm. Specializing in business law, Bogan earned a remarkable reputation for excellence, professionalism, and integrity in both the courtroom and in the boardroom. Bogan served as President of the Tulsa County Bar Association from 1987-1988. Bogan was the President of the Oklahoma Bar Association in 1990. In addition to serving on the boards of several corporations, Bogan served as a Trustee of The University of Tulsa from 1989 until his death on May 5, 1990.

As a testament to his legacy, the Oklahoma Bar Association created the Neil E. Bogan Professionalism Award in his honor and the Lady of Justice statute at the bar center bears his name. There is also an endowed scholarship at The University of Tulsa College of Law in Bogan’s name. Bogan’s list of professional awards and achievements is nearly as long as the list of friends he left behind.

Katherine “Kathie” G. Coyle has been described as the “grande dame” or “fairy godmother” of nonprofit law in Tulsa. She has practiced at Conner & Winters LLP in Tulsa for many years, devoting her practice to nonprofit law and estate planning.

Growing up in Tulsa, she received her B.A. from Hollins University and her J.D. from The University of Tulsa College of Law. Her life was profoundly shaped when she clerked for William J. Holloway Jr., a judge on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, serving as his first woman clerk. After her clerkship, she earned her LL.M. in taxation from New York University, where only four women were enrolled in a class of about 160. She honed her skills at Pepper Hamilton & Scheetz in Philadelphia and Ray Quinney & Nebeker in Salt Lake City before returning to Tulsa, where her husband, John, began his cardiology practice at St. John Medical Center.

Coyle represents large foundations and other “do good” organizations across the spectrum. She finds that practice particularly rewarding because people are thinking beyond themselves and focusing on causes they care deeply about. She has served on the boards of many charitable organizations, including The University of Tulsa, Holland Hall, the Tulsa Community Foundation, the Tulsa Library Trust, the ONE Awards for the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits, and the Judge Holloway Scholars Board, among others. Two of the foundations she has represented have sunsetted with matching fund endowments supporting the charities their donors were passionate about. One of the nonprofits she represented later won the Nobel Peace Prize after being acquired by the Grameen Foundation. She has spoken many times at the Tulsa County Bar Association on estate planning topics, including foundations, supporting organizations, donor-advised funds and philanthropic limited liability companies.

A recipient of the James C. Lang Award for Mentoring from the Tulsa County Bar Association, Coyle has led attorney orientation at Conner & Winters for many years, guiding new lawyers through the challenges of reconciling the philosophies of baby boomers with Millennials, Zillennials and Zoomers. She has been recognized as a Distinguished Alumna of The University of Tulsa and honored by the Federal Bar Association’s “The Art of Law – A Master’s Perspective.”

She is proud of her three sons, one of whom is a law professor, another a physician and another a financial analyst.

Chief Judge John F. Heil III was born in Lima, Ohio. At age four, his family moved briefly to California and then, a year later, to Stillwater, Oklahoma, where he spent most of his childhood.

He graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1990 with a degree in finance and minors in economics and international business. He went on to attend The University of Tulsa College of Law, where he served as an editor of the Tulsa Law Journal. He earned his juris doctor in 1994, graduating with honors, and was inducted into the Order of the Curule Chair.

While in law school, Heil obtained his legal intern’s license, which allowed him to participate in several jury trials with his supervising attorney, Ronald D. Wood. The experience cemented his love for jury trials. After graduation, he was recruited to the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office by District Attorney Bill LaFortune (now Judge LaFortune) to help create a newly envisioned drug task force. He served the state of Oklahoma as an assistant district attorney for more than three years, during which he conducted numerous jury trials prosecuting major drug and violent crimes, including child abuse and murder. In 1999, he was honored as the Sertoma Tulsa Metropolitan Officer of the Year for his work in the successful prosecution of a cold-case murder.

In 2000, Heil joined Hall Estill, where his practice focused on complex commercial litigation for more than 20 years. He served on the firm’s board of directors and its executive committee. He was recognized by Benchmark Litigation and Best Lawyers in America for his commercial litigation work.

On Jan. 6, 2020, President Donald Trump nominated Heil to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the Northern, Eastern and Western districts of Oklahoma. His nomination received bipartisan support, and he was overwhelmingly confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Heil received his judicial commission on May 27, 2020, filling the seat previously held by Judge James H. Payne. He joined the bench with more than 25 years of litigation and jury trial experience, having litigated matters in numerous state, federal and appellate courts across the United States.

On June 21, 2021, just over a year into his service, Heil became chief judge of the Northern District. At the request of the chief circuit judge, he served on the 10th Circuit Judicial Council from 2022 to 2024. In 2024, he was recognized as Judge of the Year by the American Trial Lawyers Association. In July 2025, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Heil to a three-year term on the Judicial Conference Committee on Space and Facilities. Heil has also given back to his alma mater through his service on The University of Tulsa College of Law Dean’s Advisory Board since 2024.

LaFortune graduated cum laude and with distinction in mechanical engineering and materials science. After graduation, she worked as a research associate at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. She then returned to Tulsa and enrolled at UTulsa College of Law, beginning her career as a municipal public defender.

She later earned her Ph.D. from UTulsa, working with Robert Nicholson, Ph.D., to research competency to stand trial and the MacArthur Assessment of Competence Tool for Criminal Adjudication. Her internship and postdoctoral work were completed at Eastern State Hospital, where she worked with clients deemed incompetent and those acquitted not guilty by reason of insanity.

LaFortune was a Carl Albert Fellow and worked at Rader, the maximum-security facility for delinquent youth. She served as mental health director at the David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center, chief of special services for forensic psychology at the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System for 13 years, and as a field representative for Congressman Bridenstine. She has also been a staff psychologist at the Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice and currently completes forensic evaluations for tribal nations in Oklahoma.

She has taught mental health law at New York Law School, one of the few programs of its kind in the United States. She also has taught in the forensic sciences program at Oklahoma State University and as an adjunct instructor in the UTulsa Psychology Department.

Her research has been published on topics including child custody evaluations, competency, the Americans with Disabilities Act and mental disability, and Miranda warnings in journals such as Journal of Psychiatry and Law, Behavioral Sciences and the Law, ABA Family Law Quarterly, and Law and Human Behavior.

LaFortune serves on the boards of Parkside, Tulsa Psychiatric Center, and Oklahoma Appleseed. She previously served on the Oklahoma Child Death Review Board, TMM, the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, and the American Psychological Association Committee on Legal Issues. She is a regular contributor to the Judicial Notebook column in APA Monitor and serves on the Courtwatch Committee.

She has received the Newsmakers Award from Tulsa Women in Communications, the Tulsa Press Club Headliners Award, the Holland Hall Distinguished Alumni Award, the Oklahoma Psychological Association Distinguished Professional Services Citation, and the Otto L. Walter Distinguished Writing Award for adjunct faculty from New York Law School. She also received the Fern L. Holland Award in 2010 from the TU Women’s Law Caucus, which recognizes a full-time law student who demonstrates a commitment to making a significant impact in areas such as democracy, human rights, women’s issues and leadership.

She is married to Judge Bill LaFortune. They have three children: Jackie, Olivia and Billy.

District Judge William D. “Bill” LaFortune, was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the fourth of five children. He graduated from the University of California-Santa Barbara in 1980 with a B.A. in environmental studies. He attended The University of Tulsa College of Law.

His first job was as a contract administrator with Telex. His first break in public service was when he was appointed as an assistant attorney general. A position he held from 1987 to 1988 and again from 1990 to 1993. He also served as an assistant district attorney for the late David Moss as well as special judge. Judge LaFortune was appointed Tulsa County District Attorney in 1995 and obtained record-setting verdicts in cases he personally prosecuted.

Judge LaFortune accepted a partnership with the firm of Norman Wohlgemuth Chandler Dowdell in 1998. However, the political bug caught up with the Judge in 2001 and he was elected as Mayor of Tulsa, serving from 2002 to 2006. His achievements included the passage of Vision 2025 in 2003, which included the BOK Center. He then returned to the practice of law, first as Of Counsel with Moyers Martin Santee Imel and later in his own solo practice. In 2015, he was elected District Judge and has been reelected twice since then. He served as Presiding Judge during the Covid pandemic, receiving the Tulsa County Bar Association’s President’s Award that year.

Judge LaFortune is blessed to be married to Kathy LaFortune, who is also a University of Tulsa College of Law graduate. They have three children and one grandchild – William D. LaFortune III.