Kraettli has spent more than four decades at the center of Oklahoma title law, as a practitioner, a teacher, an editor of the state's real estate forms and the longtime chair of the committee that writes the Title Examination Standards. Courts, lawyers and clients turn to him when a title question is genuinely hard.
Education and Licensure
- Juris Doctor, Oklahoma City University School of Law (1978)
- M.S., Urban and Policy Sciences, State University of New York at Stony Brook (1974)
- B.A., Political Science (Urban Administration), University of Oklahoma (1971)
- Oklahoma Bar, admitted 1979
- U.S. District Courts for the Western and Eastern Districts of Oklahoma
Professional Profile
Kraettli Q. Epperson is Of Counsel to Jones Property Law. He has practiced in Oklahoma since 1979, almost exclusively in title examination, real estate transactions and litigation over surface and oil and gas titles. He joined Jones Property Law in October 2026, after three years as Of Counsel with Nash Cohenour & Giessmann, P.C., and more than fifteen years as a partner at Mee Mee Hoge & Epperson.
He began his career inside the title insurance industry, first as a staff attorney at Lawyers Title of Oklahoma City and then as general counsel, vice president and corporate secretary of American First Land Title Insurance Company (now Old Republic). Before law school, he worked as an urban and public transportation planner for the State of Oklahoma.
- 45+ Years as a Licensed Oklahoma Attorney
- Chair, Oklahoma Title Examination Standards Committee (1988–2020). He led the committee that drafts the standards Oklahoma title examiners rely on for more than thirty years, and remains an active member.
- Adjunct Professor, Oklahoma City University School of Law (1982–2018). He wrote the course materials for “Oklahoma Land Titles” and taught it for 36 years.
- General Editor, West’s Vernon’s Oklahoma Forms 2d: Oklahoma Real Estate Forms and Practice. He has been the founding and continuing general editor and a contributing author since the treatise launched in 2000.
- Expert Witness and Consultant. He serves as a consulting and testifying expert on surface and mineral title questions, and drafts trial and appellate briefs on title issues.
- Mediation and Arbitration. He mediates and arbitrates real property and title disputes.
Representative Engagements
- Trial Counsel, Inadequate Legal Description. Riverbend Lands, LLC v. State of Oklahoma ex rel. Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, 2019 OK CIV APP 31. Successful at trial and on appeal.
- Amicus Brief, Enforcement of an Ancient Probate. Bebout v. Ewell, 2017 OK 22. Successful on appeal.
- Expert Opinion, Reformation of a Deed. Scott v. Peters, 2016 OK 16.
- Attorney General Opinion. Secured 2009 OK AG 5 on safe distances between residences and well sites.
- Court-Appointed Receiver. Supervised the operations and sale of five southeast Oklahoma abstract companies (2007–2008).
Scholarship Cited by Oklahoma Courts
Kraettli has published more than 25 articles in the Oklahoma Bar Journal on surface and oil and gas title issues, and Oklahoma’s appellate courts have cited his work. They include:
- RCB Bank v. Stitt, 2022 OK CIV APP 3, citing his article on whether judgment lien creditors are bona fide purchasers under Oklahoma’s race-notice recording act.
- In re Estate of Hyer, 2020 OK CIV APP 31, citing his article on marital homestead rights and conveyance signatures.
- Logan County Conservation District v. Pleasant Oaks Homeowners Association, 2016 OK 65, citing his treatise commentary defining easements.
He also wrote the annual pocket-part updates to Basye on Clearing Land Titles (1998–2001) and contributed to them through 2015, and he taught real property for the Oklahoma Bar Review course from 1998 to 2004.
Honors and Recognition
- Martindale-Hubbell AV Rating
- Best Lawyers
- Oklahoma Super Lawyers
- Oklahoma Bar Association Maurice Merrill Golden Quill Award (1997)
- Oklahoma Bar Association Earl Sneed Continuing Legal Education Award (1990)
- Oklahoma Bar Association Golden Gavel Award, Title Examination Standards Committee (1990)
Personal Profile
Kraettli served in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant and later as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve. He is married and the father of four.
More of his writing and background is available at EppersonLaw.com.