Christopher Smith

Chris Smith is co-chair of the firm's Litigation team and is a trial and appellate lawyer who counsels clients on business strategy and crisis management. He manages large, multi-party, and multi-jurisdiction projects, and both prosecutes and defends mission-critical claims for clients. In Chambers USA, clients say Chris “provides excellent strategic advice,” is "always thinking outside the box," “very, very well respected,” "uncompromisingly principled in his practice of the law," "hard-working and extremely intelligent," “fabulous," “extremely cerebral yet superbly practical in his approach when managing a dispute,” and they “would recommend Chris for all matters within his sphere of expertise.”

Chris’s interests lie in the intersection of law and business. He is a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the North Carolina Chamber and he serves on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Chamber Legal Institute, which is the business community’s voice for legal policy development and analysis. He works with business groups and government officials on initiatives to improve the quality and efficiency of the administration of justice in North Carolina and on policy and legislative matters affecting the business legal climate in the state. Chris is also a Past-President of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys.

Chris has tried numerous lawsuits to jury verdict. His recent projects include management of a commercial dispute spanning six parallel lawsuits, a tax dispute on behalf of various insurance companies with the State of North Carolina, engagement by various stakeholders to defend the application and constitutionality of liability immunity legislation, as well as strategic risk management projects for healthcare technology companies and companies developing innovative renewable energy technologies.

He has argued appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Chris was an associate with an international law firm in Washington, D.C. before joining Smith Anderson in 1995.