Ray Poole joined the Office of General Counsel in January 2022 and serves as the Chief Legal Counsel for the Duval County Public Schools. Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel, Mr. Poole was a partner and senior counsel in a national labor and employment law firm, where he represented multiple school districts and state colleges and universities in education law issues, as well as in labor and employment law matters. He also served full-time as the Chief of Legal Services for the Nassau County School District, where he handled the full array of legal matters for the District. Early in his career, he worked in the Employment Litigation Bureau of the Office of the Attorney General, where he represented state agencies in employment cases.

Mr. Poole graduated from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law, where he served for two years as a member of the Mercer Law Review. He holds board certifications from the Florida Bar in both Labor and Employment Law and in Education Law. He has served as an officer and member of the Executive Counsel for the Florida Bar’s Labor and Employment Law Section, has served as co-editor of the Labor and Employment Law Section publication, The Checkoff, has co-chaired and spoken at numerous Florida Bar seminars, and has been published in the Florida Bar Journal. He has been “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell for more than twenty years.  

Mr. Poole has been happily married since 1991 to a truly remarkable woman, is the proud father of two amazing kids, and the grandfather of three adorable grandchildren.