About Jay Kelley
Jay M. Kelley III is the Managing Partner of Elk & Elk and one of Ohio's most recognized medical malpractice attorneys, with more than 25 years of courtroom experience. Based in Mayfield Heights, he handles birth injury, maternal death, surgical error, and wrongful death cases across Ohio. His career began as a felony prosecutor, followed by time defending major Ohio hospital systems, a background that gives him an advantage in anticipating defense strategy.
He joined Elk & Elk in 2002, became a partner in 2011, and was named Managing Partner in 2017. He has been named Top 5 Ohio Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Plaintiff in 2026, Lawyer of the Year for Personal Injury Litigation (Cleveland, 2026), and Lawyer of the Year for Medical Malpractice Law (Cleveland, 2021). He served as Lead Counsel in University Hospitals fertility clinic litigation involving 65 plaintiffs and serves on the plaintiffs' leadership committee in the November 2024 Tusky Valley bus crash litigation.
Proven verdicts and settlements at Elk & Elk Co Ltd
These results are credited to Elk & Elk Co Ltd. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.
A Cuyahoga County jury awarded $39 million to the widow of a highway paving inspector struck and killed on Interstate 271 after the paving contractor failed to follow its court-approved safety plan.
A Fulton County jury awarded $2,761,228 to the widow and estate of James Worman after a fabricated axle shaft sold by Hart's Machine Service fractured beneath the couple's 1973 Honda trike, killing James and severely injuring his wife Pamela.
A Hamilton County, Ohio, jury awarded $2,063,255.51 to the family of Judy Helen Collins, 73, who died in November 2019 after complications of a hiatal hernia repair. Jurors found surgeon Robert Bradley, MD, liable for medical malpractice and wrongful death after he did not obtain a CT scan a radiologist had recommended and did not recognize signs of re-herniation. The same jury cleared the radiologist and his imaging group. The verdict came on Oct. 24, 2024, after a two-week trial.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.
