Frank A. Ray

For four of the last seven years, Super Lawyers has ranked Frank Ray as the #1 lawyer in Ohio.

After a 41-year career as an accomplished litigator, performing as lead counsel in more than 125 civil trials venued in courts from coast to coast, in mid-2014, Frank withdrew from the trial practice.  Since his exit from litigation, he has committed his schedule to full-time service as a private mediator.  Frank limits his caseload to complex civil disputes.  Including class actions, collective actions, and federal multi-district litigation, he has served as the mediator for hundreds of pending civil lawsuits.  Drawing on his multifaceted trial experience, Frank is equipped to mediate a broad variety of categories of legal matters, e.g., commercial, contractual, tort, real estate, employment, investment, intellectual property. and governmental regulatory.

As acknowledgement of his professional reputation as a former trial lawyer and now as a mediator, judges, lawyers, insurers, businesses, medical institutions, and federal, state, and local governmental agencies regularly engage Frank as a neutral for resolution of civil matters.  He has consistently delivered a high percentage of settlements by conclusion of his mediation conferences.  When deemed appropriate and upon joint or collective approval of the participating parties' lawyers during concluding phases of his mediation conferences, Frank does not shy from his implementation of "qualitative" technigues.  His requirements and processes in his mediation practice are well known by many "repeat customers" who engage Frank to mediate with a goal of global and final resolution of adversary parties' factual and legal differences.

• The Ohio State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Bachelor of Arts (English), 1970
• The Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law, Juris Doctorate, 1973

• American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow, inducted 1996
• International Society of Barristers, Fellow Emeritus, inducted 1994
• American Board of Trial Advocates - President, Ohio Chapter, 2004
• Columbus Bar Association - President, 2001-2002
• Ohio State Bar Association, Council of Delegates, 2007-2010
• Central Ohio Association for Justice - President, 1987-1988
• Columbus Bar Foundation - President, 2009-2010
• Ohio Association for Justice - President, 1989-1990
• Board of Bar Examiners, Supreme Court of Ohio, 1992-1995
• Rules Advisory Committee, Supreme Court of Ohio, 1995-1999
• American Inns of Court, Robert M. Duncan Chapter - President, 1993-1994
• National Board of Trial Advocacy, Certified Civil Trial Advocate, 1982-2016 
• Legal Aid Society of Columbus, Board of Directors, 2012-2021
• National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, Diplomate, 2014-present

For his mediation services, Frank Ray invoices at $500 per hour for his time expended in communication with counsel, for review of submitted materials, and for the mediation conference.  He bills for reimbursement of his case-related expenses, including reimbursement of his parking fees on the day of an in-person mediation conference and reimbursement for printing to hard copy of counsel's electronically transmitted materials at the rate of $0.18 per page.

Mr. Ray requires that counsel for parties to his mediations accept financial responsibility for securing and delivering payment to him for each respective party's allocated portion of his invoice. He also requires receipt of full payment within 30 days of his billing, which he serves by e-mail on the parties' counsel shortly following conclusion of the mediation conference.  Frank accepts payment of his invoices by check or by wire transfer.  Credit cards are not accepted as a form of payment of Mr. Ray.

Frank regularly mediates cases filed by litigants that are venued in state and federal courts throughout Ohio.  Mr. Ray will only agree to conduct in-person mediation conferences at sites located in central Ohio.  Through his wife, Carol, who manages Frank's mediation practice, counsel are at liberty to request that Mr. Ray make arrangements to secure access to a neutral venue for his conferences.  For use of an independent site in central Ohio for his conferences, Frank will absorb this rental expense as his unreimbursed cost.

Using the Zoom platform, at no additional charge, Mr. Ray routinely and capably hosts virtual mediation conferences that connect participating parties and their legal counsel.