D. MITCHELL GARRETT JR.
Founding Attorney, Garrett Law. Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Mitchell Garrett has spent more than twenty years taking on the people and institutions that expect no one to make them answer: county jails, sheriffs, insurance companies, and creditors. He is a Marine Corps veteran of the Gulf War, a trial lawyer admitted in more than a dozen federal courts, and a Super Lawyers honoree every year since 2020. He represents clients in civil rights, personal injury, bankruptcy, and criminal defense cases in state, federal, and tribal courts.
He comes from a long line of Oklahoma lawyers, and he runs his firm the way he wants a firm run. The attorney who takes your case is the one who handles it.
CASES AND RESULTS
Mitchell’s first civil rights case was filed in 2007 against the sheriff of Custer County. He has been suing Oklahoma counties and their jails ever since.
Bosh v. Cherokee County Governmental Building Authority, 2013 OK 9. The Oklahoma Supreme Court held that a person beaten in a county jail can bring an excessive force claim directly under the Oklahoma Constitution. The federal case ended in a $1,500,000 recovery.
Delaware County. Counsel in England v. Delaware County Sheriff (N.D. Okla.), a federal civil rights case against the county sheriff that settled for $13.5 million.
Custer County. Counsel in McGowan v. Burgess (W.D. Okla.), a federal civil rights case against the county sheriff that settled for $10 million.
Creek County. Represented the estate of a man who died in the Creek County jail in Bush v. Bowling. The case settled for $750,000.
Muskogee County. A $450,000 settlement in Lynch v. Board of County Commissioners of Muskogee County, a restraint death case. The Tenth Circuit reversed summary judgment for the officers on the excessive force claims.
McCurtain County. Represents the plaintiffs in multiple federal cases arising out of McCurtain County and its jail. In Barrick, the Tenth Circuit vacated the judgment. Read about the McCurtain County cases.
Employment. With co-counsel, represented thirteen oilfield workers in three related federal employment discrimination suits, including Mills v. Atlas Drilling, LLC, No. CIV-17-809-F (W.D. Okla.).
National products litigation. Served on the discovery working group of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In re Ortho Evra Products Liability Litigation.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different.
A MARINE FIRST
Mitchell served in the Marine Corps from 1988 to 1996 as a noncommissioned officer in infantry and logistics. He deployed for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and he received the Joint Service Achievement Medal for his service to President George H.W. Bush during the G7 Economic Summit in Houston.
That service still shapes his practice. He is admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, he has co-chaired the Tulsa County Bar Association’s Military and Veterans Committee since 2018, and he teaches other lawyers about the legal problems veterans face, including PTSD in the courtroom and reemployment rights after service.
Before the Law
Law is his second career. After Texas A&M he traveled ahead of the President of the United States on a presidential advance team, handling logistics among the agencies involved in each stop. He then founded a telecommunications and network staffing company in northern Virginia, ran it as president, and sold it.
He was also a Red Cross disaster volunteer and served on the board of the Arlington County, Virginia chapter. After the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, he worked the logistics operation for the recovery. In 2005 he worked Hurricane Katrina relief at the Astrodome in Houston, then directed operations for the evacuee relief effort at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma.
EDUCATION
University of Tulsa College of Law, Juris Doctor, 2004. CALI award in Arbitration.
Texas A&M University, Bachelor of Arts in Business Management, 1993. Aggie football, student government, and Aggie Bonfire student leadership.
Courts Where Mitchell Is Admitted
All Oklahoma state courts (admitted 2005). OBA #20704.
Supreme Court of the United States
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Oklahoma
U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas
U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Tennessee
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
Cherokee Nation District Court
Muscogee (Creek) Nation District Court
SETTLEMENT JUDGE, MEDIATOR, AND TEACHER
Since 2014 Mitchell has served as an adjunct settlement judge for the Fourteenth Judicial District in Tulsa County, helping other lawyers’ clients resolve cases before trial. He also conducts private mediations. Oklahoma courts have accepted his testimony as an expert on the reasonableness of attorney fees.
He has taught continuing legal education for the Tulsa County Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, and the National Business Institute on trial technology, expert witnesses, civility, and veterans’ legal issues, and he judges law student mock trial competitions.
Speaking
University of Tulsa College of Law, Native American Law Society (2026): “42 U.S.C. § 1983: Color of State Law (Cross-Deputization and Tribal Sovereignty),” on the Tenth Circuit’s Barrick appeal, with Christopher L. Camp
Tulsa County Bar Association (2020): “Legal Issues Facing Veterans With PTSD,” with J. Travis Barnett
Tulsa Community College (2019): “Police Use of Force,” with Scott B. Wood
American Association for Justice (2014): “Trial Tips from Successful Litigators”
American Association for Justice (2013): “The Budget Conscious Law Office”
National Business Institute (2012): “Personal Injury”
American Association for Justice (2012): “Litigation: Auto Collision Cases”
National Business Institute (2011): “Using High-Tech Demonstratives on a Low-Tech Budget”
American Association for Justice (2011): “Using the Internet as a Business Tool”
Oklahoma Bar Association (2011): “Mechanics of Oklahoma Civil Procedure”
American Association for Justice Annual Meeting (2010): “Selecting Your Expert”
American Association for Justice (2010): “Social Media: Considerations of Today’s Trial Lawyer”
American Association for Justice (2009): “Litigation Update on Mass Torts”
National Organization of Social Security Claims Representatives (2008): “Understanding Social Security Disability”
Bar Leadership
American Association for Justice: Board of Governors, 2009 to 2019. Chair of the New Lawyers Division, 2015 to 2016. Distinguished Service Award, 2013.
Oklahoma Association for Justice: former member of the Board of Governors.
Tulsa County Bar Association: co-chair of the Military and Veterans Committee since 2018. Former member of the Board of Directors and former chair of the Litigation Section.
American Bar Association: Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section leadership.
Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma: Board of Directors since 2021 and member of the External Affairs Committee.
RECOGNITION
Super Lawyers, 2020 through 2026
Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2011, 2014, and 2015
Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent, rated by other lawyers since 2008
Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent, Judicial Edition, every year since 2020. Based on reviews by judges.
American Association for Justice Distinguished Service Award, 2013
Governor’s Commendation, State of Oklahoma, 2017
The Journal Record, Achievers Under 40, 2009
Oklahoma Magazine, 2011, and TulsaPeople Top Lawyers, 2012
Boy Scouts of America Certificate of Merit, 2018
SELECTED DECISIONS
Bosh v. Cherokee County Governmental Building Authority, 2013 OK 9 (Oklahoma Supreme Court)
Williams v. Akers, No. 15-6146 (10th Cir. 2016) (published). The defendants’ appeal was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
Lynch v. Board of County Commissioners of Muskogee County, No. 18-7020 (10th Cir. 2019). Summary judgment for the officers on the excessive force claims was reversed.
Barrick v. Kasbaum, No. 25-7082 (10th Cir. 2026). Judgment for the officers was vacated and the case sent back to the district court.