Ray Steadmon joined our firm as an associate in 2017 and is based at our Kalamazoo, Mich. office. He was born and raised in the Kalamazoo area and has deep family roots in Southwest Michigan. As a young man, he met many people from the region by helping his father operate the family-owned bowling alley and softball fields in Coloma.
Ray earned his J.D. degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Ill., in 2008 and his B.A. and B.S. degrees from Ferris State University, Big Rapids, Mich., in 2005. Prior to joining Conybeare, Ray served as a trial lawyer for McKeen & Associates, P.C. (2016-2017) in Kalamazoo and Lane & Lane, LLC (2009-2015) in Chicago.
Over the course of his career, Ray has guided his clients through some of the most difficult times of their lives with genuine concern for their wellbeing. His legal knowledge has led to the the protection of their rights and the recovery of millions of dollars on their behalf. Included in his successes were securing $22.18 million on behalf of a woman who suffered a brain injury as a result of a hospital staff member’s negligence; a $1.2 million compensation for a woman rear-ended in a parking lot; and what is believed to be record-setting personal injury settlement in Winnebago County, Ill. and medical malpractice settlement in Montcalm County, Mich.
In recognition of his professional and ethical conduct, Ray has been named a Michigan Rising Star, Michigan Super Lawyers (2017) and Illinois Rising Star, Illinois Super Lawyers (2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016), an honor that is only given to the top 2.5% of all attorneys under the age of 40 years throughout each state. He was also named as one of the Top 10 Personal Injury Attorneys Under 40 in Illinois by The National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys; selected as an “Illinois Emerging Lawyer” by the Leading Lawyers Network in 2015 and 2016; and in 2016 was listed as one of the top 40 attorneys under 40 years of age in Illinois, and in 2017 as one of the top 40 attorneys under 40 years of age in Michigan by The National Trial Lawyers – a professional invite-only organization comprised of each state’s top trial lawyers.
Ray was recently appointed to serve on the Executive Committee of Michigan Association for Justice. He has also served as the Chair of the Young Lawyer’s Section of the International Society of Primerus Law Firms – a prestigious organization made up of over 3,000 attorneys in nearly 50 countries around the world. Ray has given numerous presentations and written many articles for the legal profession.
Dedicated to community service, Ray gives presentations on ending distracted driving to teenagers and parent organizations and has actively advocated for schools to find positive alternatives to student suspensions. He and his wife, Amber, a native of Coloma, Mich., and their daughter reside in Portage, Mich. In addition to spending family time together, Ray and Amber enjoy traveling throughout the U.S. and the world. One of the thrills of his lifetime was doing an open water shark dive without a cage.
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