Winters & King, Inc.

Focus and practice areas

The firm works from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and it practices principally in that state while offering certain services across the country. Winters & King reports clients in all 50 states and other countries. Thomas J. Winters and Michael J. King founded the firm in 1983, and it has carried both founders' names since.

The practice covers a wide set of areas. These include corporate law, litigation, church law, and health law. The firm also handles estate planning, guardianship and probate, trademarks, personal injury and workers compensation, criminal defense, family law, and intellectual property. Publishing and literary agent services sit alongside that legal work, which is an unusual pairing for a law firm.

In my opinion, the breadth here points to a general practice with two clear centers of gravity: work for religious and nonprofit organizations, and civil litigation. The attorney bios lead in the same direction.

How the team is built

The roster carries a mix of titles: founding shareholders, shareholders, of counsel, and attorneys. That structure gives the firm both long-tenured partners and more recent additions.

Michael J. King is described as the lead litigator. His courtroom work has involved churches, ministries, and both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, and he also handles business law and contracts. Thomas J. Winters represents many of the firm's author clients as an agent and negotiator, and he draws on his knowledge of the publishing business.

Shareholders and of counsel

Wesley R. Carter joined in 2008 and works mainly in nonprofit and business law, with employment, contract, and intellectual property matters as well. Ted J. Nelson is a litigator whose work includes business law, real estate, and matters involving tax-exempt religious organizations. Spencer C. Pittman is a civil trial attorney on the litigation team who also handles business formation and transactions.

Karen L. King is of counsel and has more than 25 years in practice. She concentrates on insurance law, personal injury, and workers compensation, and her personal injury work includes litigation and mediation. Ronald M. Fraley has practiced law since 1988 and has been with the firm for more than 10 years, and he handles divorce, juvenile issues, collections, and criminal defense.

Recent additions

Three attorneys came on board recently. Laura Smittick joined in 2024 and has handled civil matters across multiple jurisdictions. Zander Chonka joined in 2025, practices with the litigation team, and brings earlier experience in healthcare and political consulting. Paige Hulse also joined in 2025 and works in the business and intellectual property practice. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Tulsa College of Law and began her career as a litigator in the energy sector.

Work with churches and nonprofits

The firm states it has helped more than 5,500 religious and other nonprofit organizations. Church law and nonprofit formation appear across several attorney bios, so this is settled ground for the firm. Michael J. King, Wesley R. Carter, and Ted J. Nelson all name this client base in their work.

Legal work for a church or nonprofit usually runs through a few predictable stages. Formation involves drafting articles and bylaws, then filing for recognition of tax-exempt status with the relevant authorities. After that, the ongoing questions tend to be about governance, employment, contracts, and keeping exempt status intact. The firm names each of those areas among its practices, which fits the client base it describes.

Litigation and civil disputes

Several attorneys carry litigation as a primary or shared focus, and the firm keeps a defined litigation team. Michael J. King, Ted J. Nelson, Spencer C. Pittman, and Zander Chonka are all tied to that side of the work. Karen L. King adds personal injury and workers compensation litigation, along with mediation.

Civil litigation moves through stages that shape how long a matter takes. A case opens with pleadings, moves into discovery where both sides exchange documents and take depositions, and often reaches a settlement discussion or mediation before any trial date. Workers compensation claims follow a separate track before a state commission, and medical evidence and wage records carry much of the weight there. A firm that covers both civil trials and workers compensation can take on a broad mix of these matters.

Publishing and literary representation

The literary side sets the firm apart from most general practices. Winters & King works as a literary agent as well as a law firm, and it reports book sales of more than 100 million copies and over 35 New York Times Bestseller titles across that work. Thomas J. Winters handles much of the author representation and negotiates with publishers on behalf of writers.

As a reviewer, I read this as a niche the firm has built over many years, since one of the founders leads it. Authors, athletes, and public figures appear among the clients the firm lists, which lines up with the agent role. The figures it publishes are its own account of that record. Both the legal practice and the literary agency have operated under the Winters & King name since 1983.