Ray Ausrotas, founding partner of Arrowood LLP, has a diverse commercial and general litigation practice, representing individuals, shareholders and corporate officers, and governmental and business entities, in a broad variety of disputes (including over non-competes and trade secrets) and administrative agency matters.
Ray handles all manner of claims through trial and appeal, in state and federal court, including those sounding in breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of confidential information, unfair trade, tortious interference, negligence, and professional liability. He also helps his clients seek relief in alternative dispute resolution forums such as arbitration and mediation.
Before starting Arrowood LLP, he was a partner at Todd & Weld LLP in Boston, and an associate attorney at the law firm Jackson & Campbell in Washington DC, where he first started practicing after law school.
Ray is the lead author of both Massachusetts Civil Trial Practice and Massachusetts Pretrial Practice, published by LexisNexis as part of its practice guide series. Each book is regularly updated and provides, in a single source, a practical task-oriented guide to many technical and legal aspects of civil trials and pretrial practice in Massachusetts state courts.
He has been named to both the “Top 100 New England” and “Top 100 Massachusetts” Super Lawyers lists each year since 2014, in the areas of Business Litigation and General Litigation, after having been recognized by that publication (including as a “Rising Star”) in prior years.
Since 2016, Ray has also been recognized nationally by Best Lawyers, a peer review organization with an over thirty-year history, in the areas of Commercial Litigation and Litigation – Regulatory Enforcement, and was named the 2021 “Lawyer of the Year” for Boston in the latter category.
He has served multiple times as a Trial Advisor for the Trial Advocacy Workshop at Harvard Law School, and for a semester as an adjunct instructor faculty member on appellate practice at New England School of Law (now New England Law), and guest lectured at Boston University School of Law on admissibility of electronic evidence.
As listed in more detail below, he has chaired and participated as a panel member on several statewide CLE presentations, and authored published articles in legal publications, as well as newspaper columns on current legal issues.
A member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Ray served as the organization’s Chair of the Civil Litigation Section during its 2011-2012 term. He is also a member of the American Bar Association and Boston Bar Association.
Prior to attending George Washington University Law School, Ray worked as an assistant cross country coach at Brown University (where he received his undergraduate degree in English with honors), and as a staff member for both Congressional and Massachusetts legislative committees. His policy work was focused in the areas of science and technology, campaign finance, voter registration and ballot access, as well as state ethics and conflict-of-interest laws.
Notable Cases
Ray has twice been trial counsel on “Top Ten” verdicts awarded for the year in Massachusetts:
• In 2019, together with Ed Foye of Arrowood LLP, Ray was lead attorney on a complex jury trial involving both direct and derivative shareholder claims, sounding in breach of fiduciary duty. Following three weeks of evidence and testimony, the jury awarded a favorable $16 Million verdict, which was increased to a $25 Million judgment with mandatory interest. The verdict was one of the “Top 10” awarded by a jury in Massachusetts in 2019 – and the only business dispute among the Top 10.
• In 2006, together with partner Lisa G. Arrowood as first-chair, and former colleague Nick Carter, Ray tried a case which recovered the 10th largest jury verdict that year on behalf of an autistic boy, against his school’s medical director, as well as various administrators and teachers, arising out of physical and emotional abuse. The $2 Million award was delivered following a six-week jury trial.
Reported decisions on which Ray was counsel include:
• Techtarget, Inc. v. Spark Design, LLC, et al., 746 F. Supp. 2d 353 (D. Mass. 2010). Court granted dismissal of case in favor of client, an investor in a distressed company, for failure to allege sufficient facts to either pierce corporate veil or establish promissory estoppel.
• Thibeault v. Total Beauty Media, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46451 (D. Mass. May 12, 2010). Court dismissed several claims being pursued against client, on grounds of trade secret preemption under California law.
• Confederate Motors, Inc. v. Terny, 831 F. Supp. 2d 414 (D. Mass. July 18, 2011). Court denied opposing side’s dismissal motion attempting to enforce settlement, allowing client’s counterclaims — sounding in breach of fiduciary duty and violation of securities laws — to continue.
• Id., 859 F. Supp. 2d 181 (D. Mass. 2012). Court found client, former Director of publicly-traded company, to be entitled to advancement of fees under Delaware law as to defense of qualifying counts.
Honors and Awards
• Named to the “Top 100 New England” and “Top 100 Massachusetts” Super Lawyers lists annually since 2014 – Business Litigation
• Recognized nationally in Best Lawyers annually since 2016 – Commercial Litigation and Litigation / Regulatory Enforcement; and was named the 2021 “Lawyer of the Year” for Boston in the latter category.
• AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell® in the categories of Litigation and Business Law
• Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
Publications and Lectures
• Moderator, the Social Law Library CLE Trial Talk, “Pointers From Experts & The Bench”
• Panelist, “Tales from the Trenches: A Litigator’s View on Business Formation Documents and LOI Issues,” January 12, 2017
• Lead Author, Massachusetts Civil Trial Practice, book published by LexisNexis, April 2014
• Chair, “Digital Forensics For Litigators,” April 2014
• Panelist, Civil Motions Practice, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Inc., May 2013
• Guest Lecturer, Electronic Evidence, Boston University Law School, December 2013 and December 2014
• Lead Author, Massachusetts Civil Pretrial Practice, book published by LexisNexis, September 2012
• Author, “Discoverability of Deposition Breaks,” ABA Pretrial Practice & Discovery Newsletter, June 2012
• Author, “Look Before You Leap: Non-Compete Law in Massachusetts,” Massachusetts Lawyers Journal, December 2010
• Author, “Discovery of Social Media,” MBA’s edition of Civil Litigation News, February 2011
• Author, “When Negligence Is Not A Crime,” MBA Section Review, Vol. 12, No. 3, 2010
• Panelist, MBA Employment Law Open Meeting, “Analyzing Global NAPs v. Awizus”, March 2011
• Moderator, panel of 3 Superior Court judges, “Effective Use of Evidence During Your Case,” MBA Centennial Conference, May 2011
• Program chair and panelist, MBA Trial Practice Roundtable (presented on direct and cross-examination), August 2009
Voluntary and Civic Involvement
• Trial Advisor, Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop, January 2011 – January 2014
• Adjunct Instructor, Appellate Advocacy, New England School of Law, 2007-08
• Member, Cambridge Democratic City Committee, 2005-2014 (Ward 11)
Professional Activities and Organizations
Member, Massachusetts Bar Association
Chair, MBA Section Council in Civil Litigation, 2011–12
Vice Chair, MBA Section Council in Civil Litigation, 2010–2011
Member, MBA Section Council in Civil Litigation, 2008–2010
Member, Boston Bar Association
Member, American Bar Association
