We’re fearless, experienced & dedicated.
You want action. You want to hold someone accountable. You want to be restored financially. And, if possible you want to make sure that what happened to you never happens to someone else. You’ve come to the right place.
Chip Cooper
Chip is a co-founder of the firm with more than three decades of experience trying malpractice and wrongful death cases and other complex disputes throughout the United States.
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Rex Elliott
Rex is a co-founder of the firm who began his legal career in New York with the nation's premier litigation firm and who has earned a reputation for taking extraordinarily difficult cases other lawyers give up on.
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Sean Alto
Sean handles cases of catastrophic harm caused by vehicles, defective products and professional negligence.
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Jon Bond
Jon joined Cooper Elliott in 2020 and is active in all the firm’s practice areas. Before joining Cooper Elliott, Jon worked at a boutique litigation firm in Columbus, where he represented corporate clients in complex commercial litigation.
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Ben Cooper
Ben began his career handling antitrust matters for one of the world's largest law firms before joining Cooper Elliott to litigate complex wrongful death, malpractice and civil rights cases.
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Jeff Kenney
Jeff began his career with Droder & Miller in 1991 with a focus on personal injury, criminal law and insurance practices. He is well known and respected throughout Ohio, and is an advocate who approaches complex legal issues with a genuine desire to help resolve them through prompt and personal attention to his clients.
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Karl C. Kerschner
Bart Keyes
Bart applies more than a decade of experience as a trial attorney to cases ranging from wrongful conviction to business fraud.
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Kaela King
Before becoming a lawyer, Kaela had a decade-long career in education: she was a teacher and administrator in high-poverty schools, a nonprofit director, and a state policy advisor. Through these experiences, she developed a strong foundation in fighting for individuals and communities that face inequitable systems.
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Meet the Rest of Our Team
Lori Lindsey Smurr
Lori has been the Office Administrator for Cooper Elliott since its inception in 1995. Lori is responsible for all administrative operations of the firm. In addition to her administrative role, Lori also provides litigation support to the firm and is the primary point of contact for the firm’s vendors and consultants.
Tammy McKinney
Tammy is the firm's Legal Services Coordinator, serving as the primary point of contact for people seeking representation, as well as the primary contact for clients seeking updated information. Tammy also provides administrative civil litigation support to all members of the firm. Before joining Cooper Elliott in 2003, Tammy worked in various business settings.
Kim Cecil
Kim joined the firm in 2019. She has more than 25 years of experience as a paralegal and has spent the majority of her career helping injured victims. Prior to joining Cooper Elliott, Kim worked for a variety of well-respected law firms in Columbus, Ohio preparing legal documents, investigating injury cases and providing litigation and client support to injured victims.
Michael Tonovitz
Michael joined the firm as a paralegal in 2021. He specializes in client relations, investigations, and other litigation support. Michael began his paralegal career in 2016 after graduating with honors from Capital Law School’s ABA-accredited paralegal program. Before that, he worked in the service industry for nearly ten years.
Sommer Donnelly
Sommer joined the firm as a paralegal in 2023. She holds a bachelor of science from the University of Cincinnati, and before Cooper Elliott she worked for several years at a medical malpractice defense firm. Sommer values helping the firm's clients in all respects, which gives her a great sense of purpose in her work and work product.
The following groups have honored one or more Cooper Elliott attorneys by selecting them for membership or by bestowing special recognition:
Our work helps real people & improves the world.
Medicine is better, the environment is cleaner, and cars are safer today, thanks to Americans—represented by trial attorneys—who stood up to wrongdoers and held them accountable. We're proud to be part of that process.
Every day, we help individuals and families get their lives back on track after they’ve or their business suffered devastating harm caused by the negligence, wrongdoing or misconduct of others. We’re committed to ensuring that all people—individuals, families, patients, workers, consumers and small business owners—are able to find justice and accountability.
Tenacious advocates
We take action quickly and fight for the underdog. To date, we've recovered more than $350,000,000 in compensation.
25 years of service
For over a quarter of a century, Cooper Elliott attorneys have helped thousands of people through their tragedies.
Lives made better
In addition to making a meaningful difference in the lives of thousands of clients, we've achieved many corporate changes that make our communities safer.
If your case needs our strength and experience, let's talk.
Contact us to discuss your case, and we’ll respond within 24 hours. There’s no charge for the evaluation, and if we’re not the right fit for your case we’ll provide names of other law firms that can help you.
- 614.481.6000