Ronald B. Lee

Of Counsel
Cleveland
1375 East Ninth Street
One Cleveland Center, 10th Floor
Cleveland, OH 44114
P 330.849.6648
F 216.623.0134
P 330.849.6648 | F 216.623.0134

Overview

For more than 40 years, Ron has defended clients facing multi-million dollar product liability and toxic tort claims throughout the country: food-flavoring producers, transportation businesses, consumer products manufacturers, oil and gas producers, heavy equipment and rental companies, insurance companies, and others. He has particular strengths in resolving complex lawsuits involving catastrophic injuries.

Ron's involvement with food-flavoring litigation dates to the first cases. He currently acts as national coordinating counsel in diacetyl litigation and has negotiated to resolve hundreds of flavoring disputes in this role. He has also served as national coordinating counsel on latex glove lawsuits and mold litigation.

Ron's clients count on his clear and comprehensive communication to guide their decisions and shape their strategies. They trust his assessments of risks and developments throughout the litigation. And they look to him to defend their interests in tragic cases involving catastrophic injury and death as he did in a recent Federal lawsuit over a fire that led to the deaths of four people. Ron successfully prevented unqualified testimony linking his client, a product manufacturer, to the tragic fire, and the claim against his client was dismissed in a ruling upheld on appeal.

Experience
  • Trials include defense verdicts in an intentional tort claim involving a permanent injury to the arm of a worker and truck accidents involving wrongful death and quadriplegia
  • Defended two separate double amputee cases involving a transportation company
  • Defended a product manufacturer in a fire involving four deaths including two minors. The case involved ongoing Daubert issues
  • Defended three separate wrongful death actions involving horrific facts with allegations of driving under the influence. Each case involved defusing very volatile facts and avoiding multi-million dollar judgments
  • Defended an oil and gas well operator in case involving alleged injuries to person and property from drilling and fracking, including personal injury, medical monitoring, hydrogeological issues and property damage
  • Obtained summary judgment for an equipment rental and security company in a traumatic brain injury and death case
  • Defended an installer of cable barrier systems on highways from an incident involving a decapitation of a young father of two minor children
  • Defending a class action involving claims of toxic exposure from a lithium fire
Services

Industries

Education

  1. The University of Akron School of Law, J.D.
    • Akron Law Review, Editor 
  2. The University of Akron, B.S.
    • magna cum laude

Credentials

Bar Admissions
  1. Ohio
Court Admissions
  1. U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
  2. U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
  3. U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio
  4. U.S. Tax Court

Recognitions

  • AV® Preeminent™ rating from Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory
  • Selected as an "Ohio Super Lawyer" by Ohio Super Lawyers magazine (2004 & 2005, 2007-2018)
  • Named The Best Lawyers in America® Akron "Lawyer of the Year" for Product Liability Litigation - Defendants (2013, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2023, 2025)
  • Named to The Best Lawyers in America® for Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions (2007-2025); Product Liability Litigation - Defendants (2007-2025)

Affiliations

Professional Affiliations
  • Akron Bar Association
  • Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys (OACTA)
  • The Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC)
  • Ohio State Bar Association

Insights

  1. Alerts
    COVID-19 Insurance Coverage — The Uncertainty Continues (Feb 1, 2021)
    At Least One Ohio Court Has Found That Restaurants’ COVID-19 Business Losses Are Covered (Jan 25, 2021)
    New Lawsuit Tests Whether Best-in-Class Safety Technology is New Standard of Care (Apr 6, 2020)
    Supreme Court of Ohio Tolls Litigation Deadlines and Timelines (Mar 29, 2020)
    If Passed, House Bill 589 Requires Insurers Offering Business Interruption Insurance to Cover Losses Due to COVID-19 (Mar 27, 2020)
  2. Articles
    Best Practices in Mass and Toxic Torts - Today's General Counsel (April 2021)
    Legislative Efforts in Handling Industry-Wide Litigation (Mar 24, 2005)
    Legislative Efforts in Handling Industry-Wide Litigation (2005)
  3. Presentations
    "Diacetyl & Flavoring Litigation: The Origin, the Current Status, and the Future of the Litigation" - Private Client (2018)
    "Advanced Theories for Disproving and Disqualifying Plaintiff’s Theory: Dealing With Adverse Local Fire Responder" - Fighting Fire With Fire Seminar, Chicago, Illinois (2016)
    "What's New in Toxic Tort" - ACE Group, Jersey City, NJ (2015)
    “Legionella and Legionnaires Disease in a Healthcare Setting” - Great Lakes Healthcare Symposium, Cleveland, Ohio (2013)
    “Fracking: What the Frack is That?” - National Conference of Insurance Guaranty Funds 2013 Claims Workshop, Chicago, Illinois (2013)
  4. Firm News
    100 Roetzel Attorneys Named 2025 Best Lawyers®, “Ones to Watch” (Aug 15, 2024)
    Nine Roetzel Attorneys Named Best Lawyers 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” (Aug 15, 2024)
    Roetzel & Andress Earns Recognition in 2024 Best Lawyers (Aug 17, 2023)
    Roetzel Attorneys Recognized in 2023 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America® (Aug 18, 2022)
    Nine Roetzel Attorneys Named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers® 2023 (Aug 18, 2022)

Overview

For more than 40 years, Ron has defended clients facing multi-million dollar product liability and toxic tort claims throughout the country: food-flavoring producers, transportation businesses, consumer products manufacturers, oil and gas producers, heavy equipment and rental companies, insurance companies, and others. He has particular strengths in resolving complex lawsuits involving catastrophic injuries.

Ron's involvement with food-flavoring litigation dates to the first cases. He currently acts as national coordinating counsel in diacetyl litigation and has negotiated to resolve hundreds of flavoring disputes in this role. He has also served as national coordinating counsel on latex glove lawsuits and mold litigation.

Ron's clients count on his clear and comprehensive communication to guide their decisions and shape their strategies. They trust his assessments of risks and developments throughout the litigation. And they look to him to defend their interests in tragic cases involving catastrophic injury and death as he did in a recent Federal lawsuit over a fire that led to the deaths of four people. Ron successfully prevented unqualified testimony linking his client, a product manufacturer, to the tragic fire, and the claim against his client was dismissed in a ruling upheld on appeal.

Experience
  • Trials include defense verdicts in an intentional tort claim involving a permanent injury to the arm of a worker and truck accidents involving wrongful death and quadriplegia
  • Defended two separate double amputee cases involving a transportation company
  • Defended a product manufacturer in a fire involving four deaths including two minors. The case involved ongoing Daubert issues
  • Defended three separate wrongful death actions involving horrific facts with allegations of driving under the influence. Each case involved defusing very volatile facts and avoiding multi-million dollar judgments
  • Defended an oil and gas well operator in case involving alleged injuries to person and property from drilling and fracking, including personal injury, medical monitoring, hydrogeological issues and property damage
  • Obtained summary judgment for an equipment rental and security company in a traumatic brain injury and death case
  • Defended an installer of cable barrier systems on highways from an incident involving a decapitation of a young father of two minor children
  • Defending a class action involving claims of toxic exposure from a lithium fire

Education

  1. The University of Akron School of Law, J.D.
    • Akron Law Review, Editor 
  2. The University of Akron, B.S.
    • magna cum laude

Credentials

Bar Admissions
  1. Ohio
Court Admissions
  1. U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
  2. U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
  3. U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio
  4. U.S. Tax Court

Recognitions

  • AV® Preeminent™ rating from Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory
  • Selected as an "Ohio Super Lawyer" by Ohio Super Lawyers magazine (2004 & 2005, 2007-2018)
  • Named The Best Lawyers in America® Akron "Lawyer of the Year" for Product Liability Litigation - Defendants (2013, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2023, 2025)
  • Named to The Best Lawyers in America® for Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions (2007-2025); Product Liability Litigation - Defendants (2007-2025)

Affiliations

Professional Affiliations
  • Akron Bar Association
  • Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys (OACTA)
  • The Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC)
  • Ohio State Bar Association

Insights

  1. Alerts
    COVID-19 Insurance Coverage — The Uncertainty Continues (Feb 1, 2021)
    At Least One Ohio Court Has Found That Restaurants’ COVID-19 Business Losses Are Covered (Jan 25, 2021)
    New Lawsuit Tests Whether Best-in-Class Safety Technology is New Standard of Care (Apr 6, 2020)
    Supreme Court of Ohio Tolls Litigation Deadlines and Timelines (Mar 29, 2020)
    If Passed, House Bill 589 Requires Insurers Offering Business Interruption Insurance to Cover Losses Due to COVID-19 (Mar 27, 2020)
  2. Articles
    Best Practices in Mass and Toxic Torts - Today's General Counsel (April 2021)
    Legislative Efforts in Handling Industry-Wide Litigation (Mar 24, 2005)
    Legislative Efforts in Handling Industry-Wide Litigation (2005)
  3. Presentations
    "Diacetyl & Flavoring Litigation: The Origin, the Current Status, and the Future of the Litigation" - Private Client (2018)
    "Advanced Theories for Disproving and Disqualifying Plaintiff’s Theory: Dealing With Adverse Local Fire Responder" - Fighting Fire With Fire Seminar, Chicago, Illinois (2016)
    "What's New in Toxic Tort" - ACE Group, Jersey City, NJ (2015)
    “Legionella and Legionnaires Disease in a Healthcare Setting” - Great Lakes Healthcare Symposium, Cleveland, Ohio (2013)
    “Fracking: What the Frack is That?” - National Conference of Insurance Guaranty Funds 2013 Claims Workshop, Chicago, Illinois (2013)
  4. Firm News
    100 Roetzel Attorneys Named 2025 Best Lawyers®, “Ones to Watch” (Aug 15, 2024)
    Nine Roetzel Attorneys Named Best Lawyers 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” (Aug 15, 2024)
    Roetzel & Andress Earns Recognition in 2024 Best Lawyers (Aug 17, 2023)
    Roetzel Attorneys Recognized in 2023 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America® (Aug 18, 2022)
    Nine Roetzel Attorneys Named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers® 2023 (Aug 18, 2022)