Tort Reform and Personal Injury Litigation: Adapting Strategies and Tactics for Plaintiff and Defense Counsel

Chris earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2000, where he served on the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, the International Law Journal, and the Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and participated in the Ames Moot Court Competition. He holds a B.S. in Philosophy and English from Austin Peay State University (1997), which named him Outstanding Young Alumnus of the Year in 2002. He is admitted to practice in Georgia and New York.

Chris is ranked by Chambers USA for Nationwide Product Liability & Mass Torts (Band 5, 2025; Band 6, 2023–2024) and is recognized by The Legal 500 United States as a Leading Lawyer in pharmaceutical and medical device product liability defense (2023–2025), with additional recommendations spanning consumer products, toxic tort, automotive, and general commercial disputes. Forbes recognized him as “best in state” in Georgia — the only product liability lawyer in the state to receive the recognition. He has been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers for Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions and Product Liability Litigation – Defendants (2023), is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, and was named a Distinguished Adviser in Financier Worldwide's Power Players: Product Liability 2023 guide. He received the Defense Research Institute's G. Duffield Smith Outstanding Publication Award. The practice group he chairs was named Law360 “Practice Group of the Year” in 2025 and holds Band 1 (Chambers) and Tier 1 (The Legal 500) group rankings.

Chris serves as Publications Vice-Chair of the DRI Drug and Medical Device Steering Committee and served on the Law360 Product Liability Editorial Board (2022–2023). His memberships include the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the Georgia Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, Lawyers for Civil Justice, the International Association of Defense Counsel, and the US Chamber of Commerce. His pro bono work includes serving as lead trial counsel for the NAACP and other plaintiffs in the housing discrimination lawsuit Fair Housing in Huntington Committee v. Town of Huntington (E.D.N.Y. 2014).

Chris is lead global strategic and coordination counsel for Bayer in a mass tort involving a contraceptive medical device spanning five continents and more than a dozen countries, in which the defense has a near-100% success rate with more than 150 favorable findings, including a complete defense judgment after a class action trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. He is national trial counsel for Hankook Tire, with product liability trials in Arkansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia (see, e.g., Cone v. Hankook Tire, Case No. 14-CV-01122 (E.D. Tenn.)); lead national counsel for Bayer in the phenylephrine multi-district litigation, dismissed in full on federal preemption grounds (In re Oral Phenylephrine Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, 2024 WL 4606818 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 29, 2024)); lead counsel for Novo Nordisk in product liability litigation involving alleged insulin pen sharing at a Connecticut hospital; global and national counsel for Bayer in Mirena product liability and class action matters, with complete dismissals in California, Washington, and China; and counsel to Pfizer in the Depo-Provera multi-district litigation (In re Depo-Provera (Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate) Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 25-md-3140 (N.D. Fla.)). He is co-author of the book Expert Witnesses in Product Liability Cases and of “Turning the Tables: Strategies for Discovering and Using Plaintiffs' Digital Information in Mass Torts” (DRI, October 2024), and his recent speaking engagements include “Digital Evidence at Trial: Mastering Impeachment Strategy and Admissibility Before You Step Into the Courtroom” (myLawCLE, April 2, 2026) and “Digital Evidence & Technology in Mass Tort Litigation” (DLA Piper CLE Program, December 10, 2025).