Susanna Gattoni, an Oklahoma lawyer and OU deputy general counsel, died last Monday, Sept. 11, after a years-long battle with breast cancer.
Gattoni joined the university’s general counsel as associate general counsel in 2018. She provided legal advice to the OU administration on both the Norman and Tulsa campuses and represented OU in state and federal investigations.
“The OU community is deeply saddened by the loss of Susanna Gattoni, deputy general counsel in the Office of Legal Counsel,” a university spokesperson wrote in an email to OU Daily. “She will be remembered as a dedicated professional, reliable colleague and friend to so many.”
In 2014, Gattoni represented Clayton Lockett, an Oklahoma prisoner, who died from a botched execution. Lockett was administered an untested mixture of drugs that had not previously been used for executions in the U.S.
Susanna Gattoni, an Oklahoma lawyer and OU deputy general counsel, died Sept. 11.
Following Lockett’s death, Gattoni helped grant Charles Warner, another prisoner who was supposed to be executed the same night as Lockett, a 6-month stay of execution. Gattoni said she was working to ensure that as long as the death penalty is conducted in Oklahoma, it is done so in a manner that does not violate the state and federal constitution.
Gattoni was the third woman in her family to graduate from OU in 1994. She went on to attend the OU College of Law, where she graduated in 1997 with honors and was selected for both the Order of the Coif and the Order of the Barrister.
“She was a remarkable lawyer,” OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. said. “Just an unbelievable person who always came to work, always had a smile on her face.”
Before joining OU as associate general counsel in 2018, Gattoni served as assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. She worked in both the white-collar and violent crime sections. She also worked as a shareholder at the law firm of Hall Estill.
In 2020, Gattoni was appointed as vice chair of the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust's board of directors by Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd. Gattoni represented the 5th Congressional District, which includes most of Oklahoma County and all of Pottawatomie and Seminole counties. As part of the board, she helped supervise the earnings from the trust to fund programs that aim to improve the health and well-being of all Oklahomans.
For her work as an attorney, Gattoni received the Courageous Lawyer Award from the Oklahoma County Bar Association in 2014 for pro bono work. In 2012, she was the recipient of the Leadership in Law award from the Journal Record.
Gattoni is survived by her son, Peter Voegeli, mother Mary Bingaman and brother Gray Gattoni and his family: Kim, William, Henrik and Luke.
This story was edited by Alexia Aston and Peggy Dodd. Sophie Hemker, Mary Ann Livingood and Nikkie Aisha copy edited this story.
