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Stephanie Luce Ola: From the Court to the Courtroom

“The training someone gets in team sports, even in the early high school and college years, is great preparation for a career, especially a career in law,” says Stephanie Luce Ola, co-founding partner of Sorrels Ola, a firm practicing criminal defense, white collar defense, and corporate investigations.

Ola grew up as a multi-sport athlete and lettered in volleyball, basketball, track and softball in high school. She played basketball for the University of Oklahoma on a team that made it to the national championship game. She was also recently inducted into the Southlake Carroll High School Hall of Honor for athletics.

“From the emotional and psychological standpoint, you develop the ability to remain calm, to keep your wits about you, and to bounce back from things that don’t go your way. That’s something you can’t that learn in law school,” she says.

From the emotional and psychological standpoint, you develop the ability to remain calm, to keep your wits about you, and to bounce back from things that don’t go your way. That’s something you can’t that learn in law school.

In an interesting set of coincidental events, Ola met her co-founding partner, Barry Sorrels, when she was a kid working in her father’s law firm. Her dad referred cases to him. Later, while in law school, she felt a drive to practice criminal defense. Between her second and third year, she reached out to Sorrels for a summer clerkship, initiating a relationship that culminated in a partnership years later.

Stephanie Luce Ola

She likes being in the position of protecting and advocating for people – always fighting for the Constitution, fighting for the people and standing up against the government. Some of the most rewarding work is her representation of young people. “In the brief time you represent a young person, you can really open up the world of possibilities to them when they may think their arrest will ruin their life.”

Discretion is a key element in her success. She represents a number of high-profile citizens and organizations. “I do a pretty good job of making sure the cases are resolved favorably and quietly whenever possible. I do the best I can to avoid putting a press spotlight on our cases, or our clients, because that for most of our clients not what they need.”

Her clients include a wide range of people including corporate executives, students, elected officials, professionals and corporate clients facing federal investigations. She has proven to be an effective advocate in state and federal cases.

 

Ola enjoys going to trial and believes that trials are the most effective way to get to the truth of the matter. She strongly believes when a case is properly put before a jury, the jury almost always does the right thing. If the lawyers do their job, the jurors will do theirs and will get the case right. When the system doesn’t work, it’s usually the fault of the lawyers and the fault of the jury or the system.

“Other attorneys know that I will not hesitate to take the case to court,” she says. “You spend a career at the courthouse building a reputation and part of that reputation is ‘What is it going to be like if I go to trial with this person?’ The other side knows I will be prepared, and I will fight. Even if you think this is going to be an easy case, I promise it’s not going to be as much fun as you think.”

A case that proves her point involved the theft of trade secrets, an uncommon type of case. An employee went to work for a competitor and his former employer went after him for theft of trade secrets. Ola earned an acquittal for her client.

“That was a case where I learned how powerful computer forensic evidence can be. There is so much information available in metadata to show what a person has actually done on their computer. These programs can tell you when something was opened, when it was last clicked, when it was created. So much information is being logged, but people don’t realize it at the time.”

Another case involved document management, the production and response to a grand jury subpoena, and representation of a company with individual employees being investigated for fraud accusations. Ola collected information, developed protocols for reviewing the documents, managed review teams of 20-40 reviewers, negotiated with the government on production, limit expenses, and represented the company to make sure the company didn’t get charged.

Stephanie Luce Ola
Stephanie Luce Ola

Ola earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry, which proves to be a significant advantage in many of her cases. For example, when a lab analyst takes the stand, she is able to cross-examine them with a hands-on understanding of the procedures that were used, the machines they relied on, and the inherent human elements that hide behind the scientific data.

“I can cross ‘em pretty well. Witnesses are not generally going to get on the stand and lie. But if you don’t come from that background, you don’t know the questions to ask to elicit the testimony that highlights the uncertainty, how much better procedures they could have used in that case instead of what was used, you could unknowingly get you and your client into trouble.”

Ola is building a successful track record in her handling of federal cases. She says federal cases tend to be complex and an attorney needs to have the skill and the drive to “get into the weeds” of a case and to conduct a very detailed and intensive investigation of every aspect, while at the same time taking care of his or her client.

“I read somewhere that being accused of a crime is one of the most stressful things a person can go through – right up there with getting divorced or having a death in the family,” she says. “It’s important to establish yourself as someone who can be trusted and who is going to shoot straight.

“What I do is important work,” she adds. “It is essential to build trust. My clients know I’m going to fight for them. Be honest with them. Communicate with them and be capable of taking the case all the way. I feel like my competitive nature and scientific training gives me edges most lawyers don’t have. People really want a lawyer who wraps a bit too much of their self-worth in the results they get at the courthouse. I’m definitely one of those. I’m strategic, even tempered, but I’m also emotionally invested in the welfare of my clients.”

Ola met her husband, who practices real estate law, in law school. They have three boys ages 8, 10 and 11. The family enjoys traveling throughout the United States, and has plans for international trips in the future. Ola stays active in sports by coaching her kids’ soccer teams and she still finds time to shoot hoops down at the gym.

A good read on the status someone achieves as a professional comes often from well-earned media publicity, but some of the most meaningful accolades come from one’s peers. Following a successful defense in a DWI case, the bailiff in the courtroom approached her and said, “If I ever get in trouble, I know who I’m calling.”

To receive feedback like that from someone who watches trials everyday, Ola knows she is playing for the right Team.

At a Glance

Sorrels Ola

2619 Hibernia St.
Dallas, TX 75204
214-774-4365

Practice Areas

  • White Collar Criminal Defense
  • Federal Criminal Defense
  • State Criminal Defense

Education

  • Juris Doctor, Texas Tech School of Law, 2008
  • Bachelor of Science, Chemistry, University of Oklahoma, 2003
  • Bachelor of Science, Philosophy, University of Oklahoma, 2003

Professional Memberships

  • Dallas Bar Association, Criminal Law, Chair, 2014
  • Dallas Bar Association, Criminal Law, Vice Chair, 2013
  • Dallas Bar Association, Criminal Law, Treasurer, 2012
  • Patrick E. Higginbotham Inn of Court, Barrister, 2017-2021
  • Patrick E. Higginbotham Inn of Court, Associate, 2011-2012
  • Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association

Honors/Awards

  • D-Best: Criminal Law, D Magazine, 2017, 2024
  • Super Lawyer, Texas Superlawyers, 2022-2024
  • Rising Star, Texas Superlawyers, 2019-2021

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