John Belt

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

John L. Belt has practiced law in Oklahoma since 1963, specializing in business, corporate, banking, real estate, trusts and estates, and related litigation. He has received recognition for his expertise in the not-for-profit sector, including tax exempt foundations, professional and civic organizations, and educational and cultural institutions. He is licensed to practice in all courts in the State of Oklahoma, in the United States District Court for the Western District, the Eastern District and the Southern District of Oklahoma, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Tax Court, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Some of Mr. Belt’s significant professional accomplishments include performing organizational and legal services for the development of major shopping centers in the Midwest; forming and providing counsel to more than forty not-for-profit corporations; serving as principal organizer and implementer of a plan for devoting the interests on lawyers’ trust accounts in Oklahoma to educational and charitable purposes; and successfully resolving class-action securities litigation.

Mr. Belt earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Law Degree at the University of Oklahoma and completed post graduate work at Hastings College of Law in California. Having begun his career in a boutique law firm, he later served as partner with a large firm before establishing his own firm in 1975. Belt has been honored with many professional commendations, including Outstanding Young Lawyer in Oklahoma. He has served on the board and as president of the Oklahoma County Bar Association; as governor of the Oklahoma Bar Association; as trustee and president of the Oklahoma County Bar Foundation and as trustee and president of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation. He has been appointed by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma as Interim Judge to the Intermediate Court of Appeal.

Through the years, Mr. Belt has served on the board and as an officer of many cultural and community organizations, including Lyric Theater of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Theater Center, Allied Arts Foundation, Arts Council of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City Cultural Development Trust, Oklahoma City Housing Services Redevelopment Corporation, Oklahoma Mental Health Foundation, and the Oklahoma Humanities Council. Currently, Belt is secretary and general counsel of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation; advisory director of City Arts Center; trustee of the Kirkpatrick Family Fund, trustee of the William E. Davis Affiliated Fund of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, trustee and officer of the Oklahoma City Disaster Relief Fund; founder and chairman of Harding Fine Arts Academy, Inc., and member of the Board of Visitors of the University of Oklahoma College of Fine Arts.

Mr. Belt has been the recipient of various awards including the Distinguished Services and Visionary Award of Oklahoma City Beautiful, the Cultural Award of Arts Council of Oklahoma City, and the Governors Arts Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Mr. Belt has been a lecturer at the University of Oklahoma School of Law and at Oklahoma City University School of Law. In addition to visual and performing arts, his personal interests include the revitalization of inner city neighborhoods, fostering entrepreneurship, and the preservation of historical structures.

He is a member of the Oklahoma and American Bar Associations, the Oklahoma Trial Lawyers Association, the Oklahoma Estate Planning Council, the Oklahoma City Title Lawyers Association, advisory director of City Arts Center, director of American Bancorp, Inc, director of Kirkpatrick Oil Company, Inc; director of Time Lines, Inc.; member of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Club of Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club, director of the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation, and president of the Paseo Arts District, Inc.