Cheryl Wattley

Director, Clinical Education
Professor of Law
B.A., Smith College, 1975
J.D., Boston University School of Law, 1978

• Email: cwattley@ou.edu
• Link: Course Syllabi and Handouts
• View Professor Wattley's scholarship:  http://works.bepress.com/cheryl_wattley/

            Cheryl Brown Wattley is a Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Education at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.  Prior to joining the OU faculty in 2006, Wattley practiced law for 28 years.  A graduate of Smith College and Boston University School of Law, Prof. Wattley began her career as an Assistant United States Attorney in Connecticut.  She then transferred to Dallas where she spent an additional five years as a federal prosecutor, achieving the status of Chief of the Economic Crime Unit.  Prof. Wattley received numerous awards and commendations including two Department of Justice Awards and the United States Postal Inspection Service National  Award.

            Prof. Wattley spent over twenty-one years in private practice, most of the time as a solo practitioner.  She practiced primarily as a criminal defense attorney and civil rights litigator. She has also done post-conviction work, representing three clients who have  ultimately been exonerated of the offenses for which they were convicted. 

            She has served on a number of civic and professional boards including the Board of Regents for Texas Woman’s University and Texas Board of Disciplinary Appeals.

            Prof. Wattley was awarded the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents’ Award for for Superior Professional and University Service and Public Outreach in 2011.   She has also been honored by the Oklahoma Bar Association, the Association of Black Lawyers, and the DaVinci Institute.  

            She is author of “I’ll Do It”, theatrical presentation of the story of Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, the African American woman who sued OU law school for admission and caused the end of segregated higher education in Oklahoma.  Her manuscript on Sipuel is under contract with the University of Oklahoma Press.   Prof. Wattley has also written a trial case file which will be published by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.