Cooper Elliott is a law firm based in Columbus, Ohio primarily focused on civil restitution. The firm is best known for helping pass Collin’s Law in Ohio to increase penalties for hazing in universities.

In 2024, Cooper Elliot has launched a lawsuit against the Columbus police department alleging racial discrimination in a wrongful death. Soon after, Cooper Elliot joined a lawsuit led by Marc Elias’s Democrat-aligned Elias Law Group challenging an Ohio bill prohibiting donations to political campaigns by foreign nationals. ^{1 2}

Colin’s Law

In November 2018, Collin Wiant, a student at Ohio University, was killed during a hazing incident. Cooper Elliott represented Wiant’s mother, Kathleen Wiant, to lobby the Ohio legislature to pass an anti-hazing law. In March 2021, after Stone Foltz died in a hazing incident at Bowling Green University, the Foltz family also hired Cooper Elliot. In July 2021, Ohio passed the Anti-Hazing Act, commonly known as Collin’s Law, which increased penalties for hazing to a second-degree misdemeanor, and increased penalties for alcohol or drugs-related hazing to a third-degree felony. ³

Donovan Lewis Lawsuit

In August 2022, Donovan Lewis, a black 20-year-old male, was shot and killed by police serving a warrant for domestic violence against his pregnant girlfriend, assault and improper handling of a firearm at his apartment in Columbus, Ohio. As captured on body-cam footage, they knocked on Lewis’s door for eight to ten minutes before forcibly entering and deploying a canine unit which found Lewis in his bedroom. An officer opened the bedroom door and immediately fired upon Lewis, who died shortly afterward. ^{4 1}

In April 2024, Lewis’s family hired Cooper Elliott and Wright and Schulte to file a suit against the Columbus Division of Police alleging excessive force and racial bias. The attorneys claim that recent department initiatives, including increasing law enforcement in the Hilltop and Franklinton neighborhoods in west Columbus, targeted Black communities. The suit seeks compensation for the Lewis family and changes to police procedures. ¹

Foreign National Ballot Funding Lawsuit

In June 2024, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) signed House Bill 1, which extended an existing law prohibiting foreign nationals (including green card holders) from donating to Ohio candidates to also prohibit donating to statewide issue campaigns. ^{5 2}

Later in the month, Cooper Elliot and Elias Law Group, a Democratic Party-aligned law firm founded by former Hillary Clinton general counsel Marc Elias, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio challenging the bill on the grounds of violating the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The lawsuit was bought on behalf of OPAWL – Building AAPI Feminist Leadership, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, a married German couple living in Cleveland, and a Canadian citizen living in Silver Lake. ²

House Bill 1 was pushed by Ohio Republicans after a series of statewide ballot-measure losses concerning abortion access, marijuana legalization, and state constitutional reform. Democratic opposition to these measures was partially financed by billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, a Swiss national living in Wyoming. Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman (R) defended House Bill 1 saying, “Ohio’s Constitution isn’t for sale, despite the progressive left’s un-American sell out to foreign influence.” ²

Leadership

Chris Cooper is the co-founder of Cooper Elliott. After law school, Cooper worked at Porter, Wright, Morris, and Arthur, a national law firm. ⁶

Rex Elliott is the co-founder of Cooper Elliot. Elliott grew up in Bexley, Ohio, moved to New York City after attending the Syracuse University College of Law to work at Sullivan and Cromwell and later at Porter, Wright Morris and Arthur, and moved back to Ohio to found Cooper Elliot in 1995. ^{3 7}

1. “Family of man killed by officer files federal lawsuit against Columbus police.” 10 WBNS. April 18, 2024. Accessed July 10, 2024. https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/donovan-lewis-federal-lawsuit-columbus-police/530-095c1a2f-72ad-4c73-9973-a3a954515ac9.
2. Smyth, Julie Carr. “Lawsuit challenges Ohio law banning foreign nationals from donating to ballot campaigns.” AP News. June 28, 2024. Accessed July 10, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/foreign-nationals-donation-ban-lawsuit-ohio-8720e7a90bec26edb03eaf37c42e8b6f.
3. Shuler, Jack. “Making the world a safer place.” Denison. Winter 2023. Accessed July 10, 2024. https://denison.edu/magazine/winter-2023/148671.
4. “IN THE COMMON PLEAS COURT OF FRANKLIN COUNTY, OHIO.” NBC4. Accessed July 10, 2024. https://www.nbc4i.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2023/02/Donovan-Lewis-Lawsuit-complaint.pdf.
5. “SENATE PASSES BILL CLOSING FOREIGN MONEY LOOPHOLE.” The Ohio Senate. May 31, 2024. Accessed July 10, 2024. https://ohiosenate.gov/members/rob-mccolley/news/senate-passes-bill-closing-foreign-money-loophole.
6. “Charles H. Cooper.” Cooper Elliott. Accessed July 10, 2024. https://cooperelliott.com/our-attorneys/charles-h-cooper/.
7.  “Rex H. Elliott.” Cooper Elliott. Accessed July 10, 2024. https://cooperelliott.com/our-attorneys/rex-h-elliott/.