Tye Smith

Growing up in a working family, Tye saw his family taken advantage of by insurance companies on a few occasions, most notably after a tornado destroyed everything his family owned.

After becoming the first person in his family to get a college degree, Tye got his law degree from The University of Oklahoma Law School and now does what he can to help protect other people who don’t have the means or knowledge to fight those who are trying to take advantage of them.

Tye managed the Oklahoma City office of the largest personal injury firm in Oklahoma for nearly 30 years before deciding to start his own law firm with his son. Tye concentrates his practice on personal injury, products liability, wrongful death, and insurance bad faith litigation.

Tye has successfully tried cases for clients all over Oklahoma. He has persuaded major insurance carriers to change their claims-handling procedures through his pursuit of bad faith litigation and has persuaded major manufacturers to make their products safer through product liability litigation.

In 1998, he sued Allstate for bad faith because of its policy of requiring its insureds to sign a release in exchange for payment of undisputed benefits due under their uninsured motorist coverage. After obtaining a favorable ruling from the Court on the issue, the case settled for a confidential amount. Immediately after the settlement, Allstate changed its claim-handling procedure on this issue.

In 1999, Tye obtained a landmark published opinion from the Oklahoma Supreme Court in Burch v. Allstate that was a major victory for clients seeking underinsured motorist benefits. This decision literally changed the way every insurance company has to handle underinsured motorist claims in Oklahoma, making sure that policyholders get the benefit of the coverage they purchased.

In 2004, after growing tired of insurance companies refusing to pay fair compensation on minimal property damage cases, Tye pursued a minimal damage rear-end collision case against a trucking company all the way through jury trial and obtained a $750,000 verdict.

Tye would later obtain a $1,000,000 settlement for another client involved in a minimal damage rear-end case after completing a two-week bench trial where it became apparent the Court was going to rule in favor of our client.

In 2011, Tye pursued uninsured motorist benefits for a Geico insured who was injured when his car hit a tire tread from a semi-truck that had been abandoned in the highway. When Geico refused to honor the uninsured motorist claim, Tye sued Geico and obtained a favorable legal ruling from the court, followed by a verdict in excess of the policy limits.

This is the only case known of anywhere in the United States where an insurer has been required to pay uninsured motorist benefits due to a wreck being caused by a tire tread that was left in the roadway.

In 2015, Tye obtained another published opinion from the Oklahoma Supreme Court finding that a driver whose vehicle was not directly involved in a collision, but whose vehicle set in motion a chain of events that led to the collision, could be held responsible for the death of a motorist involved in the collision.

Tye is passionate about holding wrongdoers accountable and making our communities safer by standing up to corporate America and greedy insurance companies.

When not practicing law and spending time with his family, Tye enjoys fishing and hunting.

• Former long-time author of Torts Section in quarterly publication of Oklahoma Trial Lawyers Association, the Advocate
• Lecture: Oklahoma Trial Lawyers Association’s Rising Stars CLE – Focus Groups, 2003
• Lecture: Oklahoma Trial Lawyers Association’s Annual Insurance Law Update CLE – Tort Law Update, 2003-2008
• Lecture: Oklahoma Bar Association’s CLE Basics of The Automobile Accident Case – 2004
• Lecture: Oklahoma Bar Association’s CLE Auto Accidents – Perspectives from Both Sides – Litigating the Case for the Plaintiff – 2007
• Lecture: Oklahoma Association for Justice – How to Try Soft Tissue Cases -2015
• Lecture – Keenan Ball Tractor Trailer Seminar – Trying the Lie – 2016
• Former faculty at the nationwide Keenan Ball Trial Institute