Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Chris Groves has experience in a broad spectrum of commercial litigation matters, including environmental insurance coverage litigation, employment-related class actions, consumer class actions, corporate takeover litigation, shareholder derivative litigation, patent infringement and license agreement disputes, as well as mass tort litigation involving consumer, toxic tort, and product liability claims.

For the past several years, Chris has spent considerable time acting as national counsel to a safety products company in litigation that at one time involved more than 1,000 individual occupational exposure product liability lawsuits involving more than 25,000 individual claimants in 20 states. Recent federal and state judicial decisions, along with the enactment of impairment criteria legislation in several states — in which Chris and his partners played an important role — have significantly reduced the number of claims and activity on this docket. Chris continues to serve on the defense steering committees for the Texas Silica Litigation and the Texas MDL for silica cases.

In addition, he has handled matters for clients Allied Riser Corporation, Beazer East, Delphi, Fina, Goodman Manufacturing, Invensys, Morgan Stanley, Norcross, North Safety Products, Norton Company, Occidental Chemical, Parker Hannifin, Texas Instruments, Textron, U.S. Silica, and Value-Added Communications.

Chris is a member of the 2006 class of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Dallas Program. He is also listed in D Magazine's the "Best Lawyers Under 40" special issue (May 2006). Additionally, Law & Politics magazine and the publishers of Texas Monthly recognize Chris as a "Texas Rising Star."

Areas of Practice

• Trial Practice
• Class Action Litigation
• Commercial Disputes
• Alternative Dispute Resolution & Mediation
• Insurance Coverage
• Product Liability & Tort Litigation
• Class Action and Multidistrict Product Liability Litigation
• Consumer Goods Product Liability Litigation
• Coordination of Product Liability Litigation
• Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, and Other Health Care Product Liability Litigati
• Toxic Tort Exposure Litigation (Chemical, Environmental, and Occupational)

Representative Cases

• Acuff v. Rainwater, et al., No 067-224428-07(67th Dist Ct, Tarrant Cty, Tx); Nelson v. Rainwater, et al., No. 141-224214-07(141st Dist Ct, Tarrant Cty, Tx); Gomez v. Rainwater, et al., No. 141-224134-07(141st Dist Ct, Tarrant Cty, Tx)
• Angel v. Goodman Manufacturing Company, L.P., No. 07-CV-0462-CVE-FHM, 2008 WL 2673353 (N.D. Okla., June 27, 2008)
• Hughes et al. v. Texas Instruments, Inc., Case No. 97-09246 (N.D. Tex.)
• Koppers Co., et al. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., et al., 2:85-cv-2136 (W.D. Pa.), 98 F.3d 1440 (3d Cir.)
• Occidental Chemical Corp. v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. (New York State Court, Niagara Falls)
• Value-Added Communications, Inc. v. T NETIX, Inc., No. 03-11399-B (Texas State Court); T NETIX, Inc. v. Value-Added Communications, Inc., No. 3:05-CV-0654-D (N.D. Tex.)
• Involuntary Chapter 11 Debtor Representation

West Practice Categories

Alcoholic Beverages, Apparel, Asbestos, Asbestos, Bankruptcy Litigation, Business & Commercial Law, Chemicals & Cosmetics, Chemicals & Cosmetics, Class Actions, Class Actions, Collections & Repossessions, Commercial Leasing, Complex Litigation, Consumer Protection, Contracts, Debtor/Creditor, Environmental Law, Federal Appellate Practice, Federal Claims Court, Federal Trial Practice, Firearms, Food & Agricultural Products, Franchising, Hazardous Waste, Hazardous Waste, Insurance Law, International Law, International Trade Litigation, International Transactions, Joint Ventures, Lemon Law, Litigation & Appeals, Machinery & Tools, Medical Products & Devices, Medical Products & Devices, Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures, Military & Veterans Appeals, Motor Vehicle Defects, Multidistrict Litigation, Patent Litigation, Pesticides, Pharmaceutical Products, Pharmaceutical Products, Products Liability Law, Radiation & Electromagnetic Energy, Recreational Products, Secured Transactions, Solid Waste, State Appellate Practice, State Trial Practice, Tax Litigation, Tobacco, Tobacco, Toxic Torts, Transactions, Uniform Commercial Code, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, US Supreme Court, Warranties, Water Pollution

Bar Admissions

• Texas

Education

• Southern Methodist University

Published Works

• Solving the Problems in Mass Tort Litigation, Practice Perspectives: Product Liability & Tort Litigation, 2007
• In Silica Litigation, the Numbers Alone Dictate Careful Scrutiny of Injury and Causation, coauthor, Andrews, Toxic Chemicals, Vol. 21, Issue 21, p. 207, 2003

Address

2727 North Harwood Street
Dallas, TX 75201-1515

Phones

1.214.969.5005 (Business Phone)

Faxes

1.214.969.5100 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.jonesday.com