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Rex Elliott

Proven Verdicts
Co-founder at Cooper Elliott
Columbus, OH30 years experience

About Rex Elliott

Rex H. Elliott, Esq. is a Co-founder and Owner of Cooper Elliott in Columbus, Ohio, which he established in 1995. With more than 30 years of civil litigation experience across the United States, he has been directly involved in over $500 million in verdicts and settlements. He has been voted a Super Lawyer annually since 2005.

Elliott's notable case work includes representing Keziah Lewis in the Fireball accident case at the Ohio State Fair and representing Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith regarding domestic violence allegations investigations. His cases have led to the resignations of Ohio's Attorney General and the Franklin County Clerk of Courts, and he has successfully argued before the Ohio Supreme Court and multiple state and federal appellate courts.

He has served on the boards of the Ohio Association for Justice and the Central Ohio Association for Justice and is a frequent lecturer on trial tactics and strategy. He is certified by the American Board of Trial Advocates, holds a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating, has been named to the Super Lawyers Top 50 in Columbus, and is a member of the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 and Top 40 Under 40 alumni. He is a Supreme Court of Ohio Approved Mentor and a member of both the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forums.

He is admitted to the Ohio Bar.

Proven verdicts and settlements

$27 millionVerdict

A Franklin County jury awarded $27 million to the estate of Gregory Coleman Jr., a 37-year-old bartender beaten to death by security workers outside the Julep bar in Columbus's Short North, finding the bar's ownership 80 percent at fault for negligent hiring and supervision.

Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Columbus, OH · 2025Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$20 millionVerdict

A New Jersey court entered a $20 million judgment for Keziah Lewis, half of it punitive, against ride maker KMG for the 2017 Ohio State Fair Fire Ball failure that left her with catastrophic injuries.

Somerset County Superior Court, New Jersey · 2024Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$6.525 millionVerdict

Cooper Elliott won a $6.525 million judgment against the former Pi Kappa Alpha president whose chapter hazed Bowling Green State University student Stone Foltz to death in 2021.

Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, OH · 2024Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$2.9 millionSettlement

Bowling Green State University agreed to pay $2.9 million to the family of Stone Foltz, a 20-year-old fraternity pledge who died after being made to drink a full liter of bourbon during an initiation, in what the family's attorneys called the largest hazing settlement paid by an Ohio public university.

Ohio Court of Claims (Columbus, OH) · 2023Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$1.6 millionVerdict

A federal jury found two Columbus police officers used excessive force and unlawfully detained ATF agent James Burk during a 2020 call, awarding him and his wife $1.6 million.

U.S. District Court, S.D. Ohio (Columbus) · 2024Read the full story →
Settlement

Cooper Elliott's Rex Elliott represented the parents of Ohio University freshman Collin Wiant, who died after months of Sigma Pi hazing, reaching a confidential settlement with the fraternity in a case that helped drive Ohio's 'Collin's Law.'

Athens County, OH (Ohio University) · 2021Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
View all 8 proven verdicts →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Ohio
American Board of Trial Advocates
Ohio Association for Justice (former Board)
Central Ohio Association for Justice (former Board)
Million Dollar Advocates Forum
Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum

Awards & recognition

Super Lawyers (annually since 2005)
Super Lawyers Top 50 Columbus
Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating
National Trial Lawyers Top 100
National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 (alumni)
Ohio Supreme Court-approved mentor

Other attorneys at Cooper Elliott

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Proven verdicts and settlements from other Columbus firms

Isaacs & Isaacs
Isaacs & Isaacs
$10 million · $10 Million Verdict for Family of Christopher Short, Killed by Fatigued Marvin Keller Trucking Driver on I-64
The Fitch Law Firm
The Fitch Law Firm
$134 million · $134 Million Jury Verdict for Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivor Leads to Ohio Supreme Court Constitutional Ruling
Brandon J. Broderick, Personal Injury Attorney at Law
Brandon J. Broderick, Personal Injury Attorney at Law
$44 million · Construction Worker Left Without Oxygen for 20 Minutes After Debris Chute Collapse Wins $44 Million Settlement
Gervelis Law Firm
Gervelis Law Firm
$500,000 · $500,000 Settlement for Family of Marine Recruit Killed in Route 5 Semi-Truck Chain-Reaction Crash
Leeseberg Tuttle, L.P.A.
Leeseberg Tuttle, L.P.A.
$44.5 million · $44.5 Million for a Boy Left Locked In After a Lab Sat on Urgent Test Results for Six Days