Chris is, first and foremost, a trial lawyer. He has first chaired more than 35 trials and arbitrations to a verdict or award, the majority of which were jury trials. His trials include the full range of business disputes, from intellectual property cases (copyright, trademark, patent and trade secrets) to contract disputes, employment disputes (including sexual harassment and sexual assault), fraud, defamation, and wrongful death and personal injury cases arising out of gas-pipeline explosions.
Chris has obtained multimillion dollar verdicts for plaintiffs, including a $34.9 million trademark verdict, one of the largest verdicts in California that year and one of the largest trademark verdicts in the country in recent years, a $7 million verdict in a trade-secrets case, a $5.2 million verdict in a fraud case and multimillion-dollar verdicts in contract, counterfeiting, patent and other business disputes.
Chris has also obtained defense verdicts in high-stakes trials for companies that are not often treated sympathetically by juries, such as a sexual assault/sexual harassment case brought by a young female employee against a corporate defendant and in a nine-figure defamation against a public utility company.
Chris’s trial work has drawn acclaim from trial judges. One judge described Chris’s closing argument as “one of the best closing argument [he had] seen in 40 years.” Another said that Chris’s “cross examination of the plaintiff was the most riveting examination [he’s] seen in any trial … exquisite work.” A third said that Chris’s cross examinations in a three-month defamation trial were “as good as anything I’ve ever seen.”
Chris is an experienced and highly regarded teacher of trial advocacy. He is a member of the faculty of the Keble Advanced International Advocacy Program at Oxford University, arguably the most-prestigious trial program in the English-speaking world, and has taught for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and at the Advanced Advocacy Course in Dublin, Ireland. Chris also developed and taught the trial academy at his previous firm and has given his advocacy presentations at numerous AmLaw 100 firms. Chris is the co-author of To Prove, To Please, To Move: Timeless Principles of Trial Advocacy.
Representative Matters
A $34.9 million jury verdict in a trademark infringement and unfair competition case.
A $7 million jury verdict in a trade secret case.
A $5 million jury verdict in a fraud case against an international pharmaceutical company.
A directed verdict for a corporate defendant in a case alleging multiple rapes by a young employee by a supervisor.
A directed verdict in a multi-million-dollar trade dress dispute in federal court.
A $4.3 million arbitration award in an international licensing dispute concerning the use of well-known soccer marks.
A $2 million jury verdict in a trademark counterfeiting case.
A defense verdict in a three-week jury trial in an intentional interference with contract case.
A defense verdict in a two-month jury trial in a defamation case with $80 million at stake. Chris came in just before trial to second chair the case and handle the key cross examinations. The trial judge later said those cross examinations were “as good as anything I’ve seen.”
A $1.68 million judgment in a patent case. The jury confirmed the validity and enforceability of the patent, found the defendant’s infringement to be willful, and granted the requested 15% royalty. The court granted a post-trial request for enhanced damages.
A $1.58 million arbitration award in a dispute over software development.
A successful defense in a mass media defamation case involving a world-famous celebrity. The jury awarded only $10,000 to a plaintiff who sought millions for, he claimed, falsely being called a drug dealer.
An arbitration award granting the client an ownership interest in a television program.