Current Employment Position(s)

Shareholder; Assistant Director - Professional Liability Department; Chair, Transactional Litigation Practice Group

Year Joined Organization: 1991

Lawyer Overview

Chris presently serves as the firm's Assistant Director of the Professional Liability Department, with responsibility for 11 practice groups and approximately 150 attorneys throughout the firm. Chris also serves as the Chair of the Philadelphia Professional Liability Practice Group, as well as the Chair of the Delaware/Pennsylvania County Professional Liability Practice Groups. Since joining Marshall Dennehey in 1991, Chris has developed an extensive practice in defense of a wide range of litigation areas including professional liability, construction litigation, and general liability.

Additionally, Chris has defended cases involving automotive crashworthiness protection and cases involving motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, powered equipment, palletizing equipment, medical-surgical products, electrical appliances, smoke detectors, industrial equipment, personal protection devices, and more.

Chris graduated, with honors, from the United States Naval Academy in 1978 and received his J.D. from Stetson University College of Law in 1985, graduating magna cum laude.

From 1978 to 1991, Chris served in the United States Marine Corps on active duty. From 1991 to 2004, he served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and retired in the grade of Colonel. During this time, among other responsibilities, Chris served as Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary Military Judge.

Significant Representative Cases

Areas of Practice

• Products Liability
• Construction Litigation
• Professional Liability
• E & O Litigation

Representative Cases

• Smith v. Honda, 846 F.Supp. 1217 (M.D. Pa. 1994)
• Weiner v. Honda, 718 A.2d 305 (Pa. Super. 1998)
• Price v. Brown, 680 A.2d 1149 (Pa. 1996)
• Kukowski v. Homesburg S.C., 739 A.2d 597 (Pa. Super. 1999)

West Practice Categories

Products Liability Law, Professional Malpractice Law, Professional Responsibility, Personal Injury -- Defense

Bar Admissions

• Florida, 1986
• Pennsylvania, 1988
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute
• Florida Bar Association
• International Association of Defense Counsel
• Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Pennsylvania Defense Institute
• Philadelphia Bar Association

Honors and Awards

• Abraham Levine Award (Highest GPA after first year in law school)
• Five American Jurisprudence Awards at Stetson
• American Bar Association Young Military Lawyer's Award, Toronto, Canada, 1988
• Two Meritorious Service Medals for Legal Achievement (1988, 1991)
• Legion of Merit, 2005
• AV Peer Review Rating by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell
• Pennsylvania Super Lawyer, 2007, 2009

Classes and Seminars

• Instructor, Trial Evidence, Coastal Carolina College, 1987
• Presented, "Product Liability Defenses", Insurance Institute of Philadelphia, 1998
• Chairman, MDWCG Trial Advocacy Program, 2003 - Present

Past Employment Positions

• U.S. Marine Corps (active duty), 1978 - 1991
• U.S. Marine Corps, Air Support Control Officer, 1979 - 1982
• U.S. Marine Corps, Judge Advocate, 1985 - 1991
• U.S. Marine Corps, Navy Marine Corps Trial Judiciary, Military Judge, 1997 - 2002

Education

• Stetson University College of Law, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1985
  J.D.
  Honors: magna cum laude
• United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, 1978
  B.S., With Honors

Published Works

• Acura Integra Coupe Is Not Intended For Truckin', Pennsylvania Law Weekly, August, 1999
• Acura Integra Coupe Is Not Intended For Truckin', Defense Digest, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1999
• Hold Onto Your Defense Evidence If You Want To Move For A Non-Suit, Defense Digest, Vol. 5, No. 6, 1999
• Plaintiff's Conduct May Be Admissible In A Products Liability Suit-It Depends On What You Call It, Originally published in Winter, 2002 Edition of Civil Litigation Update & reprinted in PBA Civil, Litigation Section Newsletter Winter, 2002
• Pennsylvania Superior Court Limits Use Of Frye When Seeking To Exclude Expert Scientific Evidence, Defense Digest, 2004
• Shifting Indemnity to Sub-Contractor For Negligence Of Owner Or General Contractor: Perry/Ruzzi Doctrine Is Alive And Well In Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Defense Institute, January, 2006

Address

1845 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-4797

Phones

(215) 575-2733

Faxes

(215) 575-0856

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.marshalldennehey.com