Alumni Awards
2024 Information is Coming Soon.
Congratulations to the 2023 Alumni Award Recipients.
2023 G.O.L.D. AWARD
Awarded annually to a Capital University Law School JD “Graduate of the Last Decade” who has made significant achievements in their occupation and has made notable contributions to the legal profession and/or the Law School.
Rachel Sabo Friedmann, L’12
Rachel Sabo Friedmann is a founding partner of The Friedmann Firm LLC, a plaintiff’s employment litigation law firm. She graduated from Capital University Law School in 2012, where she was a two year member of the Mock Trial team, a member of the Philip J. Fulton Fall National Moot Court Team and participated in several other organizations. Rachel was awarded the Philip J. Fulton Best Oralist award for her outstanding oral advocacy during the Capital University Law School Fall National Moot Court Team Honor Round. Rachel also studied abroad at The Asser Institute in The Hague, Netherlands, studying international criminal and humanitarian law.
From Cleveland, Ohio, she attended Cleveland State University for her undergraduate studies and received a degree in Journalism and Promotional Communication.
Rachel is licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio, The United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Rachel is a member of the following organizations and bar associations: Columbus Bar Association, Ohio Employment Lawyers Association, Ohio State Bar Association, Central Ohio Association for Justice (COAJ), Women Lawyers of Franklin County and Ohio Association for Justice (OAJ). Rachel has been awarded the Super Lawyers Rising Star for 2015-2023, an honor bestowed on only 2.5% of attorneys and The Friedmann Firm was named one of the best law firms in Columbus by Columbus CEO Magazine.
In 2020, Rachel received the Louisville Slugger Award from COAJ for “knocking it out of the park for justice,” for her work on the Oakley v. OSUWMC case, a wage and hour case that settled for $4,000,000.00, benefitting thousands of healthcare workers.
Rachel served on the Board of the Women Lawyers of Franklin County from 2013-2021 and was President of WLFC in 2019-2020. Rachel was an Ohio State Bar Foundation Fellow in 2019 and participated in the Ohio State Bar Association leadership academy in 2017. She is a sustaining member of The Junior League of Columbus. Rachel is an animal lover, actively volunteering with Rescued Ohio, a foster-based organization that finds homes for unwanted and abandoned dogs.
2023 ALUMNI OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD
Awarded annually to a Capital University Law School JD Graduate who has performed significant voluntary service, beyond the call of business or professional duty, to their community and/or Capital University Law School
Raymond C. Floyd, L’75
Ray Floyd and his wife Marsha Wolowic Floyd are 1975 graduates of Capital Law. Ray was a night student living and working in Dayton at the time. Marsha was a day student, an honors graduate, and Editor in Chief of the Capital Law Review. Marsha worked continuously for governments, first as a prosecutor and later in civil practice. She is the only woman to be the First Assistant County Attorney for Harris County Texas - the third largest county in the United States - and when the elected County Attorney became medically incapacitated Marsha served as County Attorney for two years to finish his term. Ray and Marsha have two daughters who are both physicians and six grandchildren.
During a career of more than 50 years with General Motors, Exxon and Suncor/PetroCanada, Ray led some of the world’s largest and most complex industrial organizations to public recognition for excellence, including recognition from two US Presidents, the Queen of England, the Japan Minister of International Trade, the Japan Union of Scientists and Engineers, the Canadian Institute of Mining, two Industry Week Magazine designations as “ America’s Best” and a Shingo Prize. During 2012 Ray’s two books on operational excellence simultaneously occupied the first and second positions on Amazon’s best seller list in the category of Industrial Operations. Ray is currently a member of the Manufacturing Hall of Fame and the Shingo Academy and he was appointed by Secretary of Commerce Raimondo to the Board of Overseers for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
During that time, Ray has consistently volunteered in service to his community. He has documented more than ten thousand volunteer hours, or about 200 hours a year. Ray is currently a Spanish translator for the East Spring Branch Food Pantry and Catholic Charities Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. He is Vice Chair of the Great Lakes Energy Institute at Case Western Reserve University and a board member and past board President at Houston’s Queensbury Theatre and Tribble School of Performing Arts where he raised more than a million dollars to protect the staff while the theatre was dark during COVID.
2023 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR
Awarded annually to a Capital University Law School JD Graduate who has made significant achievements in their legal occupation and has made notable contributions to the legal profession, community, and the Law School through their activities and accomplishments.
Brian J. McMonagle, L’84
Brian McMonagle began his career in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office where he would rise to fame as one of the youngest lawyers to ever prosecute high profile cases in the Homicide Unit. He has gone on to become one of the finest criminal defense lawyers in the United States. Mr. McMonagle has successfully handled some of the most celebrated cases in Philadelphia’s history.
Brian J. McMonagle has long been considered one of the premier criminal defense attorneys in the United States. He garnered international praise for his success in obtaining a hung jury in Bill Cosby’s first trial, and for his representation of recording artist Meek Mill. Mr. McMonagle has had enormous success in defending high-profile cases involving professional athletes, politicians, physicians, movie and television personalities, judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, CEO’s, and an American Cardinal.
Mr. McMonagle has been selected by his peers for inclusion into the “Best Lawyers of America.” He has also been inducted into the prestigious American College of Trial Attorneys and the American Board of Criminal Lawyers. He is listed in Martindale Hubbell’s Bar Register of Pre-Eminent Attorneys. Mr. McMonagle also is a law school lecturer and serves as a legal analyst on national and local news programs.
Mr. McMonagle is a Member of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Bars. He is admitted to practice before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, New Jersey Supreme Court, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, United States District Court for New Jersey, United States District Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and United States Supreme Court.
Brian J. McMonagleMr. McMonagle has practiced in the State and Federal Courts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Florida, Connecticut, Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, District of Columbia and Maryland.
Areas of practice include Federal White Collar Criminal Defense, Title IX Investigations, Sexual Assault Investigations, Professional Disciplinary Investigations, Civil Litigation.
Selected as “Super Lawyer” by Philadelphia Magazine in 2004-2022. Selected as “Top 100 Attorneys” by Philadelphia Magazine in 2008-2022. Mr. McMonagle has been named Lawyer of the Year, twice, by Best Lawyers in America and selected as the Best Philadelphia Criminal Lawyer of 2015, and to the Philadelphia Magazine Super Lawyers Top 100 list in Pennsylvania.
Outside the courtroom, Mr. McMonagle teaches the next class of lawyers as an Adjunct Faculty Member at Drexel Law School.
2023 JOSIAH H. BLACKMORE DEAN’S AWARD
The Josiah H. Blackmore Dean’s Award recognizes outstanding service to the Law School and the Dean’s Office. The award is named in honor of Capital University’s former president, Law School Dean, and professor emeritus, Josiah H. Blackmore, whose influence on the history and continued viability of the Law School cannot be underestimated.
Frank W. Carsonie, L’92
Frank is a 1992 magna cum laude graduate of Capital University Law School. While at Capital, Frank was a recipient of an Alumni Scholarship, was awarded recognition in the Order of the Curia, served as Vice President of Capital’s Student Bar Association, and as an Articles Editor for the Capital University Law Review. Frank is a current member of the Capital University Law School Board of Counselors, recently completing his tenure as President of the Board.
Prior to Capital, Frank attended Wittenberg University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology in 1987. While at Wittenberg Frank was a member of the football team and received All-Academic and All-Conference honors from the Ohio Athletic Conference.
Frank is currently a Partner at Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff, LLP and admitted to practice in Ohio. Franks serves the firm as Chair of the Benesch Healthcare+ Practice Group and is an adjunct member of the Corporate & Securities Practice Group. He is also the Benesch Columbus Office Partner-in-Charge as well as a former member of the firm's Executive Committee. Frank's day-to-day practice focuses on advising and counseling individuals and entities engaged in the healthcare industry on business, transactional, and regulatory matters.
Practicing for over 30 years in Columbus, Frank’s dedication to the practice has been recognized in many ways over the years including as part of the 2023 Smart Business “Columbus Smart 50”, ranked in Chambers USA Leading Lawyers in Health Care from 2014 – 2023, listed in the Best Lawyers in America in Health Care Law from 2007-2024, listed as an Ohio Super Lawyer in Health Care from 2009 – 2023, Leadership Columbus Graduate Class of 2005 and a member of the Columbus Business First Forty Under 40 Class of 2003. Frank is a member of the Columbus Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the American Health Lawyers Association, and the Columbus Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth.
In the community, Frank has served various organizations including Easter Seals of Central Ohio, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation (Central Ohio Chapter, Board President 2003), the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Frank is currently a member of the Board of Columbus Speech and Hearing Center where he contributes to the Strategy Committee and is a past-president of the Board.
Frank is married to Jill Carsonie and, when not practicing or serving the community, Frank enjoys spending time with Jill to take in live music, golf, hike, and travel most especially to visit their children Alexandra, Frank, and Haley.