Chris delivers pragmatic advice and forceful advocacy across an array of commercial litigation and insurance recovery matters.
Overview
Chris represents businesses before, during, and after they suffer claims, disputes, or losses. He has broad complex commercial litigation experience in state and federal courts representing both plaintiffs and defendants in matters spanning business tort, commercial real estate, contract and quasi-contract, environmental contamination, product liability, shareholder, and trust and estate disputes. He frequently represents policyholders in insurance coverage disputes, and he has successfully pursued insurance coverage claims on their behalf under all major forms of business insurance policies.
As a risk management advisor, Chris advises and counsels policyholder clients throughout the entire lifecycle of matters concerning their efforts to preserve, secure, and obtain the benefits of their insurance coverage or contractual indemnification rights. He draws on his extensive litigation and disputes experience to help his clients begin to manage emerging exposures and navigate potential issues before litigation materializes on the horizon. He counsels clients concerning their insurance programs, policy applications, policy renewals, and contractual risk‑transfer provisions. He enforces indemnity and defense claims against third parties and their insurers. He regularly cooperates with liability insurers concerning the defense and resolution of pending ongoing matters, and he coordinates with defense counsel on coverage issues in the midst of high-stakes and multi-party litigation.
Chris also has deep experience counseling companies, independent directors, and officers on insurance coverage and indemnity issues arising from insolvency, bankruptcy, receivership, and other forms of financial distress. He regularly advises the firm’s corporate clients on insurance coverage and indemnity issues in connection with mergers, acquisitions, and other transactional activity, and he negotiates manuscript insurance policy language to address specialty exposures.
Experience
Insurance Recovery
Chris obtained summary judgment on behalf of a food manufacturing client, securing insurance coverage for a product contamination claim under a commercial general liability policy.
He obtained summary judgment on behalf of a specialty beverage supplier, securing insurance coverage under a pollution policy for tort claims relating to a chemical release.
He secured a high-value settlement of a multimillion dollar dispute with a municipality’s liability insurer concerning a policy limits demand for a pending tort claim under the Kansas Tort Claims Act.
He has successfully resolved multiple coverage disputes concerning first-party and liability claims arising out of employee thefts, bribery schemes, and other allegedly fraudulent and/or criminal activities.
He secured a high-value settlement of a dispute with a client’s cyber insurer following a ransomware event.
Chris is a member of a team that has worked as insurance coverage counsel on behalf of several unsecured creditors’ committees and has helped to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance coverage for creditors under liability insurance policies spanning several decades.
He successfully resolved a multimillion dollar property insurance dispute arising from the loss of a building by fire.
He successfully resolved a dispute over coverage for materials under a contractor’s inland marine policy.
He has served as coverage counsel for multiple attorneys and law firms to secure professional liability coverage for various underlying pending claims.
Commercial Litigation
Chris secured the dismissal of several counts brought by a foreign financial institution on various contract, quasi‑contract, and tort theories arising out of the insolvency of a South American grain trading company.
He is a member of a team that has worked as defense counsel concerning environmental contamination claims and helped secure a defense verdict in state court.
He obtained summary judgment on behalf of a Missouri bank, defeating a multimillion dollar equitable subrogation claim by a borrower’s surety companies.
Chris obtained summary judgment against post‑acquisition claims alleging that the buyer converted the seller’s confidential business data.
He secured a high-value settlement in favor of a software company concerning a dispute over a service as a software agreement.
He helped defeat a bid for preliminary injunctive relief in state court concerning a dispute over restrictive covenants, followed soon thereafter by a successful global resolution of the dispute.
He was part of a team that secured a favorable construction of key trust language via summary judgment in state court.
He has also represented clients in several internal and government investigations concerning various forms of alleged or suspected misconduct.
News & Insights
News
Speaking Engagements
Liability Insurance Basics: Scope and Recurring Issues, July 2019, July 2021, and May 2024
Publications
"Proving Lost Business Income for Manufacturers Without Clearly Identifiable Lost Sales," published in the ABA's Coverage Magazine, spring 2018
Recognitions
Recognitions
Named a 2023 Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers© Rising Star
Named to the 2021 and 2022 Best Lawyers in America© "Ones to Watch" List
Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association Pro Bono Champion, November 2020
Professional & Civic Activities
Professional & Civic Activities
American Bar Association, Litigation Section, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee
Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
Nelson-Atkins Museum Friends of Art
University of Virginia Alumni Association
Practices & Industries
Admissions
- Missouri
- Kansas
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
- U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas
Education
University of Virginia, J.D., 2015
- The Journal of Law and Politics, Production Editor
- Dillard Fellow, Legal Research & Writing Program
University of Virginia, B.A., 2011
