Carolyn Blake Brakey

Carolyn Brakey is an accomplished business attorney with a background in mechanical engineering and in-depth knowledge of legal issues related to energy. She provides a wide range of legal and business guidance to clients, including offering practical advice and managing relationships.

Carolyn has a thorough understanding of Ohio energy law and Ohio’s deregulated energy market. She assists commercial, industrial, and institutional clients in disputes involving energy, including helping clients solve problems with investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, certified retail electric service (CRES) suppliers, and energy brokers.

She specializes in energy transactions, including negotiating and drafting electric generation, natural gas, and demand response agreements. She also drafts requests for proposals (RFPs) for electric generation and natural gas service.

Applying her undergraduate degree in engineering, Carolyn is skilled at explaining complex concepts involving electricity and natural gas to clients, co-counsel, and courts. Her unique combination of energy and legal knowledge makes her a valuable asset to litigation teams.

She has extensive experience successfully representing plaintiffs in class action lawsuits involving electricity billing issues. She originated a class action suit on behalf of commercial and industrial customers of FirstEnergy Solutions that had paid charges related to the 2014 polar vortex. The case recently settled for $12 million.

Carolyn also serves as General Counsel to Brakey Energy. Brakey Energy provides comprehensive energy management services to scores of large energy users that operate in the state of Ohio. Brakey Energy helps commercial and industrial users lower their energy bills through electric generation and natural gas procurement, demand response, capacity cost mitigation, energy efficiency, and managing regulatory issues.

Prior to starting Brakey Law, Carolyn practiced law for several years at Cleveland law firms, most recently as an energy attorney and previously as a patent attorney and patent agent. She was a patent examiner for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) before law school. She is admitted to the practice law in all Ohio State Courts, the U.S. District Court, the Northern District of Ohio, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Carolyn has been named a Rising Star in Ohio in 2020 and 2021 by Super Lawyers®. She also was honored for career success and community engagement by Crain’s Cleveland Business as a member of the Forty Under 40 class of 2015.

She holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Grove City College.

Carolyn lives in Novelty, Ohio with her husband and boy/girl twins. She enjoys exploring Northeast Ohio’s museums and parks with her family, regularly practices yoga, and is an avid distance runner.