Demonstrating his longstanding commitment to access to justice, Chris serves full time as Senior Pro Bono Counsel, overseeing the firm’s pro bono program in the U.S. He also handles capital cases and in 2024 received the highest honor of the Southern Center for Human Rights, the Frederick Douglass Award, “in recognition of his instrumental death penalty work in the Deep South”.
Prior to assuming his current role in 2005, Chris was a partner in the Litigation Group for more than 20 years, handling the trial and appeals of intellectual property, construction, fraud and product liability matters, working on pro bono matters alongside his commercial practice. Many of these cases were high profile, including serving as lead counsel in Meyers v. Pennypack Woods 559 F.2d 894 (3rd Cir. 1977) (reversing lower court’s refusal to find racial discrimination in housing) and Commonwealth v. Bradley Martin, C.C.P. Lebanon Co., Nos. 1993-10899 and 11079 (2004) (death sentence vacated in 2004; resentenced to life in 2015). Chris also served as Philadelphia trial counsel, pro bono, in In re Nomination Paper, 860 A.2d 1 (2004) (finding 30,000 fraudulent signatures, Pennsylvania courts removed Ralph Nader from Presidential ballot).
Chris is a military veteran who served two years in the U.S. Army and was discharged as a Captain. During his service, he was deployed to Vietnam for a year as military advisor to the head of a Vietnamese provincial intelligence team. He is a Bronze Star and Vietnam Service metal recipient.
