Elizabeth K. Brown is a shareholder and member of the board of directors of Phillips Murrah, P.C., where she has practiced for most of her legal career. Liz is primarily a tax and transactional lawyer with a special emphasis in the energy industry. A significant part of her practice involves representing privately owned businesses, often serving in the role of outside counsel to her clients where she assists them in handling and managing the many legal issues faced by private companies.

Her practice has included representing businesses throughout their life cycles – from initial formation, including organizing the business and negotiating the terms of the business relationship among the new business owners – to the ultimate sale of the business or the succession of the ownership of the business from the original business owner to the next generation.

Specifically, her practice has included:

• Forming and reorganizing businesses
• Consulting with business owners as to the choice of business entity and the organizational structure of the business
• Assisting with equity and debt financings
• Drafting and negotiating contracts
• Structuring and negotiating mergers, acquisitions, and other business transactions
• Handling commercial loan workouts
• Consulting with respect to federal and state tax issues
• Managing litigation and settling disputes
• Developing asset protection plans to minimize liability exposure for the business and business owner
• Representing the business owner in shareholder and other disputes
• Designing succession plans to minimize gift, estate and generation skipping taxes upon the death of the business owner and to facilitate the smooth transition of the ownership and control of the family business to the next generation

Liz has also worked with real estate developers and builders in the design and qualification of projects for federal and Oklahoma historic rehabilitation tax credits, new markets tax credits and compressed natural gas tax credits.

She also serves as General Counsel to The Gloria Corporation, a privately held oil and gas exploration and production company founded by her father and based in Ada, Oklahoma. Having been raised in the oil business, Liz has been actively involved in every aspect of running a small, independent oil company.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma and is involved in its advocacy efforts for the oil and natural gas industry. She is also on the National Stripper Well Association Board of Directors.

Liz graduated at the top of her class from the University of Oklahoma receiving her bachelor’s degree in accounting and her juris doctorate in law. In addition to being an attorney, she is also a certified public accountant.

She has been a frequent speaker and panelist on various legal topics, including oil and gas related issues, family business succession and asset protection planning. She has served on the Ethics Committee of the Oklahoma Bar Association and on the Board of Directors of the Central Oklahoma Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Bar Association, the Oklahoma Bar Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Oklahoma Society of CPAs.

Liz lives in Oklahoma City with her husband, Ron, also an attorney. They have three adult children, all OU graduates, who live in the Oklahoma City area. In her free time, she enjoys spending quality time with her family and playing the piano. What Liz loves most about the practice of law is helping entrepreneurs to achieve their business goals.

• University of Oklahoma (B.Acc., with Special Distinction)
• University of Oklahoma College of Law (J.D.)