Elizabeth L. Dalton
Of Counsel, Industry Group Leader

Elizabeth L. Dalton’s practice includes corporate, securities and franchise law with emphasis on issues relating to the healthcare industry for both taxable and tax-exempt clients. She represents clients in a wide range of business transactions, including organization, acquisitions and mergers, secured and unsecured lending, and business contracts. A significant portion of her practice consists of advising physicians, hospitals and other providers on regulatory and transactional matters affecting the healthcare industry, including development of facilities, certificates of need and licensing, affiliations and joint ventures, reimbursement, Medicare and other payer audits and appeals, physician compensation arrangements, antitrust, Stark law/physician self-referral restrictions, fraud and abuse, and anti-kickback laws.
Elizabeth serves as leader of the firm’s Medical Marijuana Industry Group and has previously served on the firm’s board of directors and as leader of the firm’s Healthcare Group.
Her experience and expertise have earned her inclusion in Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Best Lawyers in America (antitrust law; business organizations; corporate governance law; corporate law; franchise law; health care law; non-profit/charities law) and Oklahoma Super Lawyers, where she has been named to the list of “Top 25 Women Lawyers” each year since the magazine’s debut in 2006. She was selected by Best Lawyers as the “Oklahoma City Health Care Lawyer of the Year” for 2010, “Oklahoma City Business Organizations Lawyer of the Year” for 2015, “Oklahoma City Franchise Lawyer of the Year” for 2016, 2018 and 2020, “Oklahoma City Corporate Lawyer of the Year” for 2017 and 2020, and “Oklahoma City Corporate Governance Lawyer of the Year” for 2021, honors given to a single lawyer in each legal specialty in each market.
Download Bio (PDF)Representative Experience
- Represented a large healthcare company in reorganizing and simplifying its capitalization and organizational structure through a series of mergers and other related transactions including, among other things, a private securities offering and amendment of existing credit facility.
- Structured integration of several physician group practices with hospitals to create provider-based clinics and free-standing facilities.
- Negotiated and structured joint venture among four hospitals (two of which were owned by major hospital systems) to create a specialty hospital.
- Assisting physicians and other healthcare providers in forming joint ventures to develop imaging facilities, sleep labs, clinical laboratories, physical therapy centers and other healthcare facilities.
- Representing hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers in drafting and negotiating professional services contracts, recruitment agreements, lease agreements, service agreements and employment contracts.
- Ongoing representation of several physician-owned hospitals.
- Assisted significant national charity in streamlining organization through series of mergers to create regional divisions.
- Represented various physicians and physician group practices in connection with False Claims Act lawsuits, overpayments, audits and appeals.
- Represented hospital in connection with Department of Justice’s national enforcement initiative regarding Medicare billing for implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), coordinating experts to defend hospital practices and compliance department to implement proactive procedures to ensure regulatory conformity.
- Represented manufacturer and national wholesale food distributor in establishment and ongoing operations of franchise systems.
Honors and Awards
- Listed in the Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business
- Selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (antitrust law; business organizations; corporate governance law; corporate law; franchise law; health care law; non-profit/charities law)
- Named “Oklahoma City Health Care Lawyer of the Year” for 2010, “Oklahoma City Business Organizations Lawyer of the Year” for 2015, “Oklahoma City Franchise Lawyer of the Year” for 2016, 2018 and 2020, and “Oklahoma City Corporate Lawyer of the Year” for 2017 and 2020, and “Oklahoma City Corporate Governance Lawyer of the Year” for 2021 by The Best Lawyers in America
- Listed in Oklahoma Super Lawyers
- Named to Oklahoma Super Lawyers’ list of “Top 25 Women Lawyers”
- Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings
- Named by The Journal Record as a “Fifty Making a Difference” honoree and finalist for “Woman of the Year” honors (2008 and 2013)
- Honored with The Journal Record’s Leadership in Law Award, recognizing legal professionals for their professional and civic contributions to the state (2007)
Professional Organizations and Memberships
- Oklahoma County Bar Association
- Oklahoma Bar Association (Former Chair, Health Law Section)
- American Bar Association (Health Law Section; Business Law Section; Forum on Franchising)
- Oklahoma Health Lawyers Association (Past Member, Board of Directors)
- American Health Lawyers Association
- William J. Holloway, Jr. American Inn of Court (Master of the Bench)
Civic Involvement and Leadership
- OKC Beautiful (Chair, Board of Directors)
- Upward Transitions (Past President and Member of Board of Directors)
- Lynn Institute for Healthcare Research, Inc. (Board Member)
- Junior League of Oklahoma City
- Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma (Past Member, Board of Development)
- Leadership Oklahoma City (Class XXIII)
- Rotary Club of Oklahoma City
At The Podium
Healthcare Year in Review
Medical Marijuana Business Issues and Risks
Commercial Medical Marijuana Licenses – Legal Issues
Medical Marijuana Business Issues and Risks
Medical Marijuana Business Issues and Risks
OIG’s Prescription for Effective Governance
OIG’s Prescription for Effective Governance
Make Sure You Get to Keep the Money You Earned: How to Avoid Recoupment and Investigation
Practitioners Behaving Badly
Dr. DPC or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying (and Billing) and Love Primary Care
Drugs, critters and disease in the workplace
Stark Reality — Navigating the requirements for fair market value in physician compensation arrangements
Advanced Stark and AKS Compliance: Case Studies and Hypotheticals
Healthcare Industry Regulatory Compliance: Recent Events
Updates on Stark FMV and Commercial Reasonableness, Overpayments and False Claims
What Your Hospital and Physician Clients Need to Know About the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act
Physician Options After the New Healthcare Reform
RAC and Other Government Audits
Articles
New law allocates additional $100 billion for COVID-19 health care and testing
McAfee & Taft LINC | April 24, 2020Governor signs Unity Bill regulating medical marijuana in Oklahoma
McAfee & Taft MarijuanaLINC | March 15, 2019Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority begins processing applications
McAfee & Taft MarijuanaLINC | August 27, 2018Governor approves OSDH’s revised medical marijuana regulations
McAfee & Taft MarijuanaLINC | August 8, 2018
Medical marijuana rulemaking:
A chance to get it right this time
McAfee & Taft MarijuanaLINC | July 25, 2018 Obtaining commercial licenses for medical marijuana in Oklahoma
McAfee & Taft Business Alert | July 6, 2018Selecting EHR Vendors: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
McAfee & Taft Healthcare Update | January 29, 2018Supreme Court ruling potentially expands false claims liability for healthcare providers
McAfee & Taft Healthcare Alert | June 16, 2016OIG rules hospital’s offer of free transportation, lodging doesn’t violate anti-kickback statute
McAfee & Taft Healthcare Alert | March 10, 2016Physician Compensation Arrangements Under the Stark Law: Deciphering Fair Market Value, Commercial Reasonableness and the ‘Takes into Account’ Prohibition
Oklahoma Bar Journal — Vol. 86, No. 2 | January 1, 2015CMS authorizes contractors to deny ‘related’ claims of physicians who are not undergoing review
McAfee & Taft Healthcare Industry Alert | March 7, 2014OIG rejects management arrangement that carves out federal healthcare program patients
McAfee & Taft Healthcare Industry Alert | August 12, 2013Court rules employers who provide services to federal government employees subject to federal contracting regulations
McAfee & Taft Healthcare Industry Alert | June 5, 2013OIG advisory opinion describes suspect ‘under arrangements’ transactions
McAfee & Taft Healthcare Industry Alert | September 15, 2010Media
