Special Licenses/Certifications:

• Northern District of Illnois Trial Bar
• Registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Bar/Professional Activity:

• The Richard Linn American Inn of Court
• American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)
• American Bar Association (Sections on Litigation, Intellectual Property Litigation and Law Firm Management)

Pro bono/Community Service:

• As a junior associate, Chris volunteered to work on a “small” patent infringement lawsuit for an individual inventor as his lead counsel against a well-known industrial control company.  After several years of litigation, the district court granted a summary judgment against his client on a controversial patent law issue.  On appeal, Chris obtained a reversal of the district court ruling and recusal of the district judge.   The case was tried years later to a jury before a different trial judge, and resulted in a judgment of $20 million for his client.  His client, who had developed terminal cancer during the lawsuit, was not able to attend or testify at the trial.  In a bittersweet moment of vindication, however, the inventor was able to receive the news of the verdict, give an interview to the New York Times, read a Sunday business section article on his case and speak to one of the jurors before succumbing to his illness one week after the verdict.   It is not the biggest or most publicized case that he has handled.  But, Chris considers this case to be the most meaningful case of his career.
• Appointed by a federal district court to represent an indigent client whose civil rights were alleged to have been violated by police officers; the case was settled on highly favorable terms for the pro bono client after the filing of an amended complaint based on newly discovered facts., 2008

Scholarly Lectures and Writings:

• Lectures and publications on Litigating Equitable Defenses in Patent Cases; Financing High Stakes Patent Litigation and Substantive Due Process Issues in Land Use Disputes

Verdicts and Settlements:

• Litigation counsel in patent and trade secret cases resulting in settlements for his client in excess of $100 million during the past 10 years.
• Trial counsel in 12 jury and bench trials in patent, trademark and trade secret/NDA cases resulting in a multi-million dollar verdict in each of the trials conducted in the Eastern District of Virginia, the Northern District of Illinois, Superior Court of California and the Eastern District of Michigan, including jury verdicts of $123 million, $13 million and $20 million for his clients.
• Appellate counsel in patent appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit since 1998 resulting in affirmance of trial courts' decisions for his clients and reversal of adverse district decisions.

Transactions:

• Represented clients on sales and acquisition of patent portfolios in diverse industries - approximately $40 million in 2008 - 2012
• Counseling corporate clients on intellectual property portfolio management and monetization

Representative Clients:

• SmarTire Systems, Inc.; Black & Decker; Election Systems and Software; Miller Industries, Inc.; TTC Tech; Grail Semiconductor; TeleCommunication Systems, Inc.;Turtle Bay Technologies; MPH, Inc.; Anatomic Research; Haden; MSTG, Inc.; Hudson Surgical, Inc.; Illinois Tool Works

Other Outstanding Achievements:

• Recognition by federal judiciary for outstanding pro bono representation
• Rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review