Frank A. Ray

Four times, Super Lawyers' annually published list of honorees has ranked Frank Ray as the #1 lawyer in Ohio.

In his 41-year career as an accomplished litigator, Frank performed as lead counsel in approximately 150 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 professional schedule to full-time service as a private mediator.  Frank limits his caseload to complex civil disputes.  Including his mediation of class actions, collective actions, and federal multi-district litigation, he has served as the mediator for hundreds of civil matters.  Drawing on his diverse trial experience, Frank is equipped to mediate a broad variety of categories of legal matters.  He offers experience in litigation and in mediation in the following categories of law: commercial, contractual, tort, professional malpractice, real estate, employment, investment, intellectual property. and governmental regulatory.

Judges, lawyers, insurers, businesses, medical institutions, and federal, state, and local governmental agencies regularly engage Frank as a neutral for resolution of civil matters through the mediation process.  He has consistently delivered a high percentage of settlements as a result of his mediations.  When deemed appropriate to his "facilitative" managment of mediation conferences, Frank does not shy from implementation of a "qualitative" approach to his mediations.  His requirements and processes in his mediation practice are well known and respected 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

Frank Ray charges $600.00 per hour for his mediation services, which includes time spent communicating with the parties legal counsel, reviewing materials submitted by the lawyers, and the mediation conference itself. He also invoices for case-related expenses such as parking fees on the day of an in-person mediation and printing costs for hard copies of electronically transmitted materials at $0.18 per page.

Legal counsel for parties in Frank's mediations must accept personal financial responsibility for delivery of payment of their respective client's allocated share of his billing within 30 days of Frank's electronic transmission of his invoice to counsel.  Promptly following conclusion of the mediation of a case, Frank sends his bills via email. Payments can be made by check or wire transfer.  Credit cards and other modalities of payment are not accepted.

Frank mediates pending cases from state and federal courts throughout Ohio and pre-suit cases controlled by Ohio and/or federal law.  He only conducts in-person mediations at sites within Franklin County, Ohio. His wife, Carol, oversees the scheduling of his mediation conferences. Legal counsel can request that Carol arrange a neutral venue for these conferences. If an independent site in central Ohio is used, Frank covers the rental cost as an unreimbursed expense.

Using the Zoom platform, Mr. Ray routinely and capably hosts virtual mediation conferences that connect participating parties and their legal counsel.