John M Bray (Jack)

Partner
jbray@kslaw.com
Phone: (202) 626-5618
Fax: (202) 626-3737

  Download v-Card
  Download Bio
Bio | Representative Matters | News

Jack Bray is a senior member of the Washington trial bar. He has tried cases in federal district courts for over 40 years. His varied civil and criminal trial practice has included asbestos liability, federal tax, environmental, defense procurement, insurance coverage, and antitrust cases. The cases he has litigated have raised a great variety of business, financial and government regulatory issues.

Mr. Bray’s work was featured in the recent book, Rats in the Grain by James B. Lieber, about Mr. Bray’s defense of Archer Daniels Midland’s Vice Chairman, Michael D. Andreas, in a two-month price-fixing trial. Among the author’s comments:

  • Mr. Bray is “one of the capital’s most accomplished litigators” and “equally at home in criminal or civil cases.”


  • “With his well-tailored suits, gun metal gray hair, and sonorous voice, he seemed the image of a trial lawyer.”


  • “He was extremely good at explaining complicated economic and financial matters in court.”


  • “In court, he seemed unflappable, courteous, well-spoken, and ready for anything. Jurors would see him as the calm point in a storm and would rely on him for the truth.”


  • Mr. Bray’s closing argument was especially noted by the author: “It had been a stunningly good closing that played upon themes of displeasure with the government, foreign competition and snitches. It hit the evidentiary holes. The language was strong but not strident. It had been smoothly but not slickly presented.”

Mr. Bray has tried cases across the United States, in federal courts in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Omaha, Chicago, Mobile, Tampa, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, Denver, and many other cities.

Mr. Bray began his career as a trial attorney under the Attorney General’s Honors Program, and went into private law practice in 1968. He joined King & Spalding in Washington, D.C., as a partner in 1997. He graduated with honors from the Saint Louis University School of Law where he ranked first in his class and was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. From 1980 to 1993 and from 1995 to 2007 he was a member of the University’s Board of Trustees.

Awards & Recognition

  • Selected as one of the leading lawyers in Business Litigation and one of the top 100 vote getters among all Washington lawyers by Washington D.C. Super Lawyers magazine, 2008


  • Recognized for expertise in White Collar Crime and Government Investigations by Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, 2007


  • Recognized as a “Top D.C. Trial Lawyer” by Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers For Business, 2003-2004


  • Named one of the “20 Leading Litigators” in Washington by Washington’s Legal Times, 2003; republished in the Legal Time’s first Almanac of Leading Lawyers, 2008


  • Ranked 20th in Washingtonian magazine’s compilation of the “Best 75 Washington Lawyers for Every Problem,” 2002


  • Selected by peers to the State Chair for the District of Columbia for the American College of Trial Lawyers, the by-invitation-only society of America’s finest trial lawyers

Education
LL.B., cum laude
St. Louis University

B.S.
St. Louis University


Admitted to Practice
Missouri
Washington, D.C.
11th Circuit Court of Appeals
3rd Circuit Court of Appeals
4th Circuit Court of Appeals
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
8th Circuit Court of Appeals
9th Circuit Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals
Maryland District Court
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Tax Court
OFFICES  

Washington, D.C.
1700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW - Suite 200
Washington, DC 20006-4707
Phone: (202) 626-5618

PRACTICE AREAS  
* Unless otherwise indicated, lawyers listed in this Web site are not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
* This website may constitute attorney advertising in some jurisdictions.