Background
Morris, Joseph Wilson was born on April 28, 1922 in Rice County, Kansas, United States. Son of J. Bertr and Mary Hazel (Sluder) Morris.
Morris, Joseph Wilson was born on April 28, 1922 in Rice County, Kansas, United States. Son of J. Bertr and Mary Hazel (Sluder) Morris.
Bachelor of Arts, Washburn U., Topeka, 1943; Juris Doctor, Washburn U., Topeka, 1947; Master of Laws, University of Michigan, 1948; Scientiae Juridicae Doctor, University of Michigan, 1955.
He is a partner in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, law firm of Gable Gotwals. He received an Bachelor of Arts in political science from Washburn University in 1943. He received an Bachelor of Laws from the Washburn University School of Law in 1947 graduating first in his class and Order of the Coif.
He received an Master of Laws from the University of Michigan Law School in 1948.
Morris received a South.J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1955. In 1942, while a student at Washburn, Morris was initiated into the Kansas Beta Chapter of Phi Delta Theta.
Morris was admitted to practice law in Kansas in 1947, in Oklahoma in 1949 and in Texas in 1978. He is now married to Dona Morris.
Morris spent three years as an ensign in the United States Navy Reserve from 1943 to 1946.
Subsequently he was general counsel of Amerada Petroleum Corporation from 1960 to 1969. He was a vice president and associate general counsel for the Amerada Hess Corporation from 1969 to 1972. In 1972 Morris left Amerada Hess to serve as dean of the University of Tulsa College of Law from 1972 to 1974.
On March 19, 1974, President Richard M. Nixon nominated Morris to the federal bench to fill the seat vacated by Edwin Langley.
He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 5, 1974, and received his commission on April 12, 1974. He served as chief judge from 1975-1978.
Morris resigned from the bench on July 31, 1978, to become general counsel of Shell Oil Company. He remained in that role until 1983 when he joined Gable Gotwals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
During the last 20 years, Morris has spent the majority of his time as an arbitrator in significant commercial arbitrations, both domestic and international.
Morris was an adjunct professor at the University of Tulsa College of Law for over twenty years. He was president of the Tulsa County Bar Association in 1971. In 1983, he was chairman of the American Bar Association’s Section of Natural Resources Law.
Morris was formerly a regent of the State of Oklahoma"s high education system and is currently a trustee of the Sarkeys Foundation.
From 1977 to 1984 he was a member of the Board of Governors of the Washburn Law School. He is a former vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Southwestern Legal Foundation and an emeritus member of the Rand Corporation"s Board of Overseers of the Institute for Civil Justice.
Children: Jeffrey David, Marilyn, Cynthia.