Chris Ralston enjoys the challenge of standing before a court to advocate for his clients, but his favorite part of being a lawyer is when he calls them to deliver the good news about a court decision. He never gets tired of that. As a former business owner, Chris can relate to his clients when they call on him for help with commercial litigation matters. He develops a perspective that is broader than the case. Instead of focusing on how an issue might affect the case at hand, he asks how might this detail affect the company’s future and the big picture. That connection to clients makes delivering the news of a successful decision meaningful to Chris.
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Chris Ralston enjoys the challenge of standing before a court to advocate for his clients, but his favorite part of being a lawyer is when he calls them to deliver the good news about a court decision. He never gets tired of that. As a former business owner, Chris can relate to his clients when they call on him for help with commercial litigation matters. He develops a perspective that is broader than the case. Instead of focusing on how an issue might affect the case at hand, he asks how might this detail affect the company’s future and the big picture. That connection to clients makes delivering the news of a successful decision meaningful to Chris.
Chris regularly advises multinational corporations as well as emerging businesses, serving as the main litigation contact for several of the firm’s institutional clients. For over 20 years, Chris has focused his practice in the areas of
- Antitrust law
- Business torts
- Trade secret litigation and contract disputes
- Tax litigation
- Securities litigation and arbitration
- Direct Selling disputes
- Intellectual property litigation
In addition to his commercial litigation practice, Chris is a member of the firm’s appellate practice and serves as a practice coordinator for the firm’s litigation group in New Orleans.
Chris regularly litigates in both state and federal courts. Through his appellate practice, he has successfully handled appeals at each of the five Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Louisiana, the Fifth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
In addition to his legal practice, Chris frequently serves as a guest lecturer for several bar associations and has presented on topics including E-Discovery, social media issues, cybersecurity, data breaches and trade secret litigation to judicial colleges, in-house counsel and private practitioners. Chris has also contributed to the development of Phelps Dunbar’s eDiscovery Team, which serves to ensure that the firm's lawyers are on the cutting edge of evolving legislative and jurisprudential rules that govern electronic discovery, using the best tools available to efficiently collect, review and produce electronic data for the firm’s clients.