Oklahoma law firm marketing that prints the verdict disclaimer and never touches a crash report

Oklahoma lets a firm put a dollar figure from a past case in an ad. The catch is the disclaimer beside it, which has to be as easy to see as the number.

The test comes from the Oklahoma Bar Association's ethics opinion on results advertising, adopted October 15, 2004. It reads the state's rule against ads that create unjustified expectations. A verdict or settlement amount may run if it is factually accurate and breaks no client confidence. A disclaimer must sit beside it saying each case turns on its own facts.

The opinion spells out what "as loud" means. In print, the disclaimer uses the same font and at least the same size as the results. Other copy in the ad may not bury it. On a website, that rules out the gray footnote under a banner of seven-figure awards.

Settlements carry one more line. The opinion treats them more strictly than verdicts, because a verdict is public record and a settlement is a private deal. So a settlement figure also needs a sentence saying it came from private negotiations, shaped by more than the legal merits.

Comparison claims need a date. The opinion names "largest verdict" as its example. A firm that says it won the county's biggest award should say as of when, since a later verdict can make the line false.

Check the age before relying on it. The OBA has warned in a separate opinion that older advertising opinions can be outdated as the law moves. Its rules committee also proposed changes in 2024 to update the advertising rules, Rules 7.1 to 7.3. Confirm the rule text in force before a results campaign launches. This is not legal advice, so confirm with counsel.

Buying workers' comp leads in Oklahoma carries a risk most states do not have. The way you pay the vendor can make the client's contract void.

Oklahoma's runner and capper law covers comp claims by name. No lawyer may use a non-lawyer agent, runner, capper or steerer to sign up a client on a comp claim. No lawyer may pay anyone except another lawyer in exchange for being hired on one. The law also bars anyone from acting as a runner for a lawyer.

The penalty lands on the case as well as the firm. A fee contract won this way is void and unenforceable. Each offense is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $2,500 under the same runner law, on top of anything the bar does.

One door stays open. Voluntary referral programs, such as those run by lawyer associations, are allowed, as long as the bar's own rules permit them.

So read every comp vendor's contract before the first lead arrives. Our reading, which counsel should confirm:

• Paid per signed client. This is the arrangement closest to paying for being hired. Leave it out.
• Paid per call or form, signed or not. This looks like buying advertising. Still check who talks to the injured worker before your firm does, and what they say.
• Your own ads and your own intake. This is the safe default. A firm that owns its comp pages, its ad account and its phone line never needs the question answered.

The law firm page covers lead costs nationally. In Oklahoma, the payment terms come first.

A criminal case in Tulsa may not be in a state court at all. So a defense firm's pages should say which courts it practices in, plainly.

In McGirt v. Oklahoma, decided July 9, 2020, the Supreme Court held that the Creek Reservation was never disestablished. The opinion says the reservation takes in most of Tulsa and some neighboring communities. Inside it, the state may not prosecute Indians for crimes the case covered. Those cases fall to the federal government and the tribe.

Two years later the court drew another line. In Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, decided June 29, 2022, it held that the state and federal governments share power to prosecute crimes by non-Indians against Indians there. So who is charged where depends on who the defendant and the victim are.

A person charged in Tulsa may be searching for a federal defense lawyer or a tribal court lawyer, not a county one. Pages that win those searches do three things:

• List each court by name. Tulsa County District Court, the federal court and the tribal court each get a line, but only where your lawyers are admitted.
• Answer the first question. Explain in plain words why a case might be federal or tribal, and link the decision. Leave the call on any one case to a consultation.
• Stay accurate. Oklahoma's advertising rule bars communications that are false or misleading, as the OBA's results opinion quotes it. A page implying tribal court experience the firm lacks is exactly that.

The same care applies to family law pages in eastern Oklahoma. Ask counsel which court questions touch your cases before a page promises anything.