Brian Patrick Kopp

Brian Patrick Kopp

Manager, Complex Litigation And Sports Law Practice Groups
  • Complex Business and Civil Litigation
  • Personal Injury
  • Medical Malpractice
  • Wrongful Death
  • Sports Law
  • Capital University Law School, Columbus, Ohio, 1995
  • Juris Doctor
  • Honors: Joint Program, Capital University School of Law Ohio University, 1996
  • Honors: Joint Program, Ohio University’s School of Sports Administration
  • Major: Sports Administration
  • Major: Facility Management Bethany College, 1992
  • Bachelor of Science
  • Honors: Magna Cum Laude
  • Major: Mathematics
  • Florida State Courts
  • U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
  • U. S. District Court of the Southern District of Ohio
  • Ohio State Courts
  • 2000: “Trial Lawyer of the Year”, Mahoning-Trumbull Counties Academy of Trial Lawyers
  • 2004: Listed as one of America’s Top 100 Lawyers by the American Trial Lawyers Association
  • American Bar Association
  • Ohio Bar Association
  • Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers
  • American Association for Justice
  • Mahoning-Trumbull Counties Academy of Trial Lawyers
  • U.S. District Judge Peter C. Economus, Federal Law Clerk
  • Betras & Dann, Associate Attorney
  • Austintown Fitch High School, Quarterback Coach
  • Athletic Department at Youngstown State University, Temporary Special Legal Assistant

Attorney Brian Patrick Kopp

Attorney Brian Kopp,  one of the founders of Betras, Kopp & Markota, LLC, serves as managing partner of the firm’s Complex Litigation and Sports Law Practice Groups. A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Atty. Kopp is now based in the firm’s Tampa, Florida office.

Brian began his legal career as a federal law clerk in the Northern District of Ohio for U.S. District Court Judge Peter Economus. Following his clerkship, he began working as an associate attorney in the law firm that would eventually become Betras, Kopp & Markota. During his first month of practice, he served as lead counsel and won a case against Allstate Insurance Company in Federal Court. In 1999, at the age of 29, Attorney Kopp won his first wrongful death case in Katherine Biles v. Warren General Hospital.

From 2006 until 2012, Brian served as counsel for DeBartolo Sports. DeBartolo Sports was founded by Edward DeBartolo, Jr., the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers. Brian assisted in the acquisition and sale of various divisions of the sports company and represented the company in regulatory matters, as well as litigation matters. Following his time with DeBartolo Sports & Entertainment, Brian has continued to represent various individuals and entities in collegiate and professional sports.

Along with his work in the personal injury field, Attorney Kopp has successfully represented various business entities in cases brought by the United States Justice Department and various regulatory agencies. Attorney Kopp also serves as an advisor and has represented multiple billion-dollar private family entities in litigation matters.

From 1999-2009, Attorney Kopp amassed an impressive record of success in a number of legally significant cases including: United States vs. Russell Saadey, Jr., Mays vs Allstate, The Estate of Daniel Aldrich vs. American Manufacturers, The Estate of Darlene Ross vs. St. Elizabeth Hospital, The Estate of Victoria Rendano vs. St. Elizabeth Hospital, and Randy Graham vs. Werner Enterprises. In addition to the verdicts obtained, a number of these cases went on to resolve disputed principles of law within their respective appellate jurisdictions.

Since 2012, Attorney Kopp has acted as managing partner of BKM’s Complex Litigation Practice Group. He is primarily responsible for the preparation and presentation at trial of the firm’s most challenging and complex cases. In addition to the trial of matters, he has argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Ohio’s Seventh and Eleventh District Courts of Appeals, and the Second and Fourth District Courts of Appeal for Florida.

In 2023, U.S. District Judge Benita Y. Pearson appointed Attorney Kopp to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Norfolk Southern train derailment matter in Northeast Ohio.

Brian is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Bethany College where he obtained a B.S. Degree in Mathematics. He earned his Juris Doctorate at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, and his M.S.A. in Sports Administration from Ohio University.

Brian is an active member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), American Bar Association, Florida Bar Association, and the Ohio Bar Association. He has also been selected on two occasions to serve on the Merit Selection Panel for United States Magistrate Judges for the Northern District of Ohio.

Brian and his wife Lori have seven daughters: Julia, Ally, Olivia, Emma, Ava, Audrey, and Amelia.