Over the past 45 years, Plakas Mannos Law Managing Partner Lee Plakas has been involved in hundreds of civil jury trials in state and federal courts, securing large verdicts for his clients in a broad spectrum of cases.
He also played a key role in establishing the Stark County Academy of Trial Lawyers (now Stark County Association for Justice) and the Summit County Trial Lawyers Association (now Summit County Association for Justice) and participated in a range of other endeavors designed to help the legal profession and the northeast Ohio community.
The Ohio Association for Justice (OAJ) recently paid tribute to his efforts, presenting him with the Craig Spangenberg Lifetime Achievement Award on June 16 during its annual convention, which took place at the Hilton Columbus at Easton.
The award is presented to an OAJ member whose lifetime of service and dedication to representing plaintiffs and the civil justice system best exemplifies the objectives and ideals of the organization. OAJ members nominate recipients, who are selected by the awards committee. To be eligible the individual must be in good standing with the OAJ and have a minimum of ten years of consecutive membership.
“I was very honored to receive this award,” said Plakas, a longtime member of the OAJ. “What makes it especially meaningful is that it takes into consideration my entire legal career.
“My goal was always to use my law degree to make a difference and to have the profession recognize me for my efforts means a great deal,” said Plakas. “I am very lucky to have had many mentors, attorneys and judges who served as role models to me throughout my career.”
OAJ President David Meyer said Plakas is very deserving of the award.
“Lee is an excellent trial lawyer and community leader and he deserves this high honor based on his lifetime of service, high ethical standards and dedication to his clients and the civil justice system,” said Meyer, who has known Plakas for 20 years. “He is a great lawyer and an even better man. Everyone in our organization is proud of Lee and his accomplishments, both inside and outside the courtroom.
“This year our convention was a hybrid event, with about 400 people participating, two-thirds of whom attended in person. Lee received the award during our luncheon in front of a large in-person audience,” said Meyer. “It’s the most significant award an OAJ member can receive.”
Born in Akron, Plakas grew up in Bath Township and graduated from Revere High School.
“My mother was a second grade school teacher at Bath Elementary and at the end of her career she received a state award for excellence in teaching,” said Plakas. “My sister also became a teacher and both of my daughters are teachers.
“While I loved the idea of teaching and educating people, I thought I could have a more direct impact on the community and society as a whole by being a lawyer,” he said. “Lawyers have the power to make a difference in the lives of individuals and the verdicts that are secured, especially in high profile cases, have the power to raise the consciousness of the community about important issues.”
After completing his bachelor’s degree in finance at The University of Akron, Plakas received a full scholarship to attend law school at Akron Law.
During his time in law school, he clerked for two firms simultaneously, including the solo practice run by the late George Tzangas, the founding partner of Tzangas Plakas Mannos Ltd., now known as Plakas Mannos Law.
“George was very committed to fighting for the underdog,” said Plakas. “While the firm has expanded, we are determined to carry on his philosophy.
“We have offices in both Akron and Canton and 16 attorneys, and almost all of them came to us directly out of law school, and like myself, never left. I’m very proud of our firm’s ability to attract and retain talented legal professionals.
“I’m also very proud of the fact that our firm has always been committed to gender diversity. In fact we are one of the first firms in this area to have a significant percentage of female attorneys.”
While Plakas has won a number of multimillion-dollar verdicts, one of the cases he is most proud of is the firm’s $44 million jury verdict on behalf of Gibson’s Bakery in 2019 in its defamation case against Oberlin College. The judgment has been appealed.
“Gibson’s Bakery was the largest defamation verdict in Ohio’s history, but even more important is that the message of the verdict—truth still matters—resonated nationwide with the public and both television and print media,” Plakas said.
“It is remarkable that even in our sharply divided country, a great majority of both sides of the political spectrum commented favorably on the verdict and its theme of truth,” he said.
Plakas was interviewed about the case by Ted Koppel on “CBS Sunday Morning” and appeared on “FOX & friends.”
“It is a refreshing surprise that national columnists as disparate as George Will in The Washington Post and Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times also supported the verdict in national columns. Also, a number of journalists have expressed an interest in follow-up stories tracking the ultimate fate of the family bakery,” Plakas said.
A member of the International Society of Barristers, American Association for Justice and the American, Federal, Akron and Stark County bar associations, Plakas has been certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy since 1998 and is also certified by the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Plakas is a past president and current trustee for the Stark County Association for Justice and has served on the state board of the Ohio Association for Justice both as a state trustee for the Fifth Appellate District and as a state Representative at Large.
or his future plans, Plakas said he plans to continue to contribute to his firm, the legal profession and the community for as long as his health, family and fate allow.
"The legal profession and the justice system are the last lines of resistance to ensure society stays on the right track,” said Plakas. “So as long as God continues to bless me with good health and talented partners so that we can effectively make a difference I will continue in the privilege of being a trial lawyer.”
Media contact: Sherry Karabin, Legal News Reporter for The Akron Legal News