Christopher D. Morris
Office Information
Practice Areas
Chris defends pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in mass tort and individual cases in various state and federal venues throughout the country. He is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized as a "Mid-South Rising Star" by Super Lawyers
Biography – View PDF Bio
- Associations
- Bar Admissions
- Distinctions
- Education & Honors
- Experience
- In the News
- Papers, Presentations, & Publications
Bar Admissions
- Mississippi, 2008
- Tennessee, 2008
- Louisiana, 2011
- U.S. District Courts
- Mississippi: Northern, Southern
- Tennessee: Western
- U.S. Court of Appeals
- 5th Circuit
Distinctions
- Martindale-Hubbell®
- AV®- Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated
- Super Lawyers®
- Mid-South Rising Star, Personal Injury – Products: Defense, 2011-2018
- Intern, U.S. Attorney's Office, Memphis, TN, 2008
- Summer Clerk, U.S. Army JAG Corps, Fort. Drum, NY, 2007
Education & Honors
- University of Mississippi, J.D., cum laude, 2008
- Outstanding Student Award, Legal Profession (Ethics)
- National Appellate Advocacy Team
- American Inns of Court
- University of Memphis, B.A., Philosophy and Political Science, magna cum laude, 2004
- Captain, Mock Trial Team
Experience
- Representation of pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in mass tort and individual cases pending in various state and federal venues throughout the country.
- Significant experience coordinating multi-tiered discovery in mass tort litigation.
- Leads a team of attorneys responding to written discovery.
- Leads a team of attorneys evaluating amendments or dismissals.
- Representation of insurance carriers against complex, extra-contractual punitive damage claims.
- First and second chair jury trial experience on the federal and state levels.
- Flechas v. Pitts, 138 So. 3d 907 (Miss. 2014) (granting appeal for extraordinary relief and reversing trial court order to produce privileged attorney work product).
- Allstate Property & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Pickett, 2014 WL 202758 (S.D. Miss. January 17, 2014) (granting summary judgment and holding that homeowner's insurance policy excluded intentional acts).
- Great S. Realty Co., Inc. v. Allstate Indem. Co., 2013 WL 3006412 (S.D. Miss. June 14, 2013) (granting summary judgment in declaratory judgment lawsuit concerning destruction of house due to arson). More...
- In re Gatlin, 2013 WL 2250304 (Bankr. S.D. Miss. May 22, 2013) (granting summary judgment in a bankruptcy adversary proceeding and holding that a sanction award entered against an attorney for forum manipulation was a non-dischargeable debt).
- Allstate Property & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Pickett, 2013 WL 887347 (S.D. Miss. March 8, 2013) (denying defendant’s motion to dismiss in a declaratory judgment action brought by insurer).
- Wansley v. Brent, 80 So. 3d 125 (Miss. Ct. App. 2011) (reversing trial court for failing to properly instruct jury on comparative fault).
- Stamps v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 2011 WL 1743107 (S.D. Miss. May 5, 2011) (granting summary judgment in lawsuit for breach of contract and punitive damages).
- Stallings, et al. v. Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, et al. – Medical malpractice action. Tried in Gulfport, Mississippi; resulted in defense verdict (2011).
- Jackson-Miller v. State Farm Ins. Co., 39 So. 3d 991 (Miss. Ct. App. 2010) (affirming trial court’s denial of auditur and the propriety of jury instructions; plaintiff recovered zero damages after application of offset).
- Hill v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 2010 WL 1328884 (S.D. Miss. Mar. 30, 2010) (denying plaintiff's motion for reconsideration of order granting summary judgment on plaintiff's "bad faith" punitive damages lawsuit).
- Assisted Trial Team
- Cavness v. Ethicon, Inc. et al. - Product liability action involving pelvic mesh. Tried in Dallas County, Texas; resulted in defense verdict. (2015).
In the News
- Christopher D. Morris to Speak at American Bar Association's Regional CLE Program
- Butler Snow Ranked No. 2 in Lex Machina’s ‘Top Law Firm Report’
- 106 Butler Snow Attorneys Listed in 2017 Mid-South Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
- 102 Butler Snow Attorneys List in 2015 Mid-South Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
Papers, Presentations, & Publications
- Panelist, “E-Discovery and Data at Trial,” American Bar Association’s Regional CLE Program, North Wales, Pa., November 9, 2018.
- Co-Author, "Jurisdictional Survey of Local Requirements Governing Class Actions: Louisiana," A Practitioner's Guide to Class Actions, Published by the American Bar Association's Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, 2nd Edition, 2017.
- Author, “Lone Pine Orders," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 9, No. 2, Summer 2016.
- Author, "Creepy Cases and Spooky Statutes," The Quarterly, Fall 2015.
- Co-Author, “Medical Devices: The Modern Age (Part 2)," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 7, No. 3, October 2014.
- Co-Author, "Effective Strategies for Neutralizing the Adverse Prescribing or Treating Physician at Deposition and Trial," DRI's 30th Annual Drug and Device Seminar, May 2014.
- Co-Author, "FDA Considers Changes to its OTC Drug Review, Potentially Affecting Over 300,000 Drug Products," ABA Section of Litigation Mass Torts Newsletter, April 30, 2014.
- 2012 Desktop Legal Primer for Mississippi Claims
- 2012 Mississippi Premises Liability Primer More...
- 2012 Louisiana Claims Primer