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John Frederick Kempf Jr. John Frederick Kempf Jr.

John Frederick “Fred” Kempf, Jr.

Of Counsel

Fred joined Hall Estill in July, 2018.  As an attorney in Oklahoma City for more than 40 years, much of Fred’s practice has been focused on real property law, real estate and oil and gas title work, title insurance defense, title curative and quiet title work, property leasing, commercial and transactional law, mortgage lending, estate planning, trust administration and probate. In addition, he has an AV peer review rating through Martindale-Hubbell.

Fred’s experience includes:

  • Representation of buyers, sellers, lenders and borrowers in a variety of commercial and real estate purchase, sale and lending transactions.
  • Real estate and oil and gas title curative matters, quiet title, partition, eminent domain and condemnation matters.
  • Work for various borrowers, banks and lenders on a variety of transactional, legal and litigation matters involving mortgage lending, loan work-outs, and foreclosures.
  • Representation of local abstract and title companies and title insurance defense for national title insurance underwriters in variety of title related matters. 
  • Representation in various types of estates, trusts and probates.
  • Representation of a national company in commercial site acquisitions for retail travel stop locations throughout the U.S. 
  • Served as local counsel for various site acquisitions, closings and development for a Real Estate Investment Trust which built and leased stores for a national chain of retail drug stores. 
  • Representation of a publicly traded telecommunications company on a variety of real property issues, acquisitions, negotiations, and granting of leases for wireless tower sites and retail locations throughout the U.S.

He spent several years assisting a local sports celebrity figure in a wide variety of legal matters.  In his early career, Fred's practice was focused on commercial and banking transactions, litigation and collections, real property and oil and gas title examination, and real estate and oil and gas foreclosure litigation.

In addition, Fred has provided outstanding representation to myriad clients, including:

  • Campbell v Butler; Oklahoma Supreme Court Cases; Public Domain Citation: 1988 OK 75 West Reporter Citation: 770 P .2d 7
  • Benton v. Ted Parks, LLC; Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals Cases; Public Domain Citation: 2011 OK CIV APP 7; West Reporter Citation: 247 P .3d 299; Issued: 12/02/2010; Mandate: 01/24/2011; OK CIV APP; Judge Wiseman

Fred is an active member and past Chairperson of the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Real Property Law Section, a member of the OBA’s Energy and Natural Resources Law Section, and a member of the OBA’s Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section.  He has been an active member of the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Title Examination Standards Committee since 1994.   He has been actively involved with other professional groups whose focus involves several of his areas of practice, including the Oklahoma City Real Property Lawyers Association (Past Chair) and the Oklahoma Mineral Lawyers Society.

Education

  • Oklahoma State University (B.A. in Philosophy, 1973)
  • Oklahoma City University School of Law (J.D., 1976)

Admissions

  • Oklahoma (1977)
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern, Northern and Western Districts of Oklahoma
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • 2018 - Present Hall Estill
  • ​2008 - 2018 Andrews Davis
  • 1986 - 2008 Pate, Kempf and Knarr, formerly Pate and Payne
  • 1979 - 1986 Rowntree and Kempf, formerly Rowntree and Solomon
  • 1977 - 1979 Eagleton, Nicholson and Pate
  • Member, Christ the King Catholic Church
  • Member Oklahoma City Rotary Club 29
  • Member, Oklahoma City Men's Dinner Club
  • Member, Oklahoma County Bar Association
  • Member, Oklahoma Bar Association - Real Property Section,
  • Member of Oklahoma Bar Association's Title Examination Standards Committee
  • Member, Oklahoma City Real Property Lawyers Association
  • Member, Oklahoma City Mineral Lawyers Society