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The Office of Professional & Career Development at OU Law By Teresa Cajot At the Office of Professional & Career Development (OPCD) at the University of Oklahoma College of Law in Norman, Oklahoma, the knowledgeable staff assist students, graduates, and employers with a variety of needs, including career counseling, professional development, programming, and employer services.
The Assistant Dean of External Relations, David A. Poarch graduated from the law school in 1977 and returned twenty years later to serve his alma mater in the role of dean and adjunct professor of law. Immediately before joining OU Law, he spent six years as the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel for a Fortune 500 company’s subsidiary in Oklahoma. He also spent a number of years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, followed by ten years in private practice. Poarch is a member of the American Bar Association and the Oklahoma Bar Association. The Director of the OPCD, Casey T. Delaney, also graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Following her graduation, she spent almost five years with an Oklahoma City firm, where her state and federal practice was focused on complex civil litigation. Delaney worked with law students through both her law firm’s summer associate recruitment program and as a judge at the University of Oklahoma’s intraschool moot court competition, and quickly realized that she thoroughly enjoyed this line of work. She pursued her newfound interest and joined the career development office at
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Pepperdine University School of Law in California. However, when the opportunity to return to her alma mater was presented, she jumped at the chance and has been at OU Law ever since. As the Director of the OPCD, she is responsible for overseeing the office, providing career planning services to students and alumni, and arranging on-campus interviewing programs, training workshops, and alumni speaker events. Delaney is an active member of the NALP, the Oklahoma Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. The OPCD’s Staff Administrator, Melissa O’Brien serves the office on a part-time basis. She has worked for the National Weather Center and with the Cleveland Habitat for Humanity as an office manager and family center coordinator. She is dedicated to volunteer work and currently offers her time to the Cleveland County Habitat for Humanity and Food and Shelter for Friends. She is also a Food/Volunteer Coordinator for the Feed the Team committee and assists in fundraising projects at a local high school.
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