Christopher graduated magna cum laude, with accounting and business management degrees from North Carolina State University and in the top quarter of his class at Wake Forest School of Law. Prior to joining the firm, Christopher clerked for the Honorable Stephen McNamee of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona and the Honorable Gregory Olson of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. He also practiced in the area of Mergers and Acquisitions for an international law firm.
Christopher regularly works with clients to help them stay union-free or to manage union relations for his unionized clients through practical and effective advice and by providing comprehensive training to management and human resources personnel. He has substantial experience managing union avoidance campaigns for companies facing imminent threats of unionization. Christopher also has significant experience litigating before the National Labor Relations Board and against unions in the grievance and arbitration process.
Christopher also has extensive experience litigating trade secret, employment, and labor matters in arbitrations, in state and federal courts, and before state and federal administrative agencies including the National Labor Relations Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Department of Labor. He has defended employers in cases arising under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, the National Labor Relations Act, state discrimination and wage statutes, whistleblower statutes, and the Uniform Trade Secrets Act as well as defended against common law causes of action such as breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference with contract, defamation, and infliction of emotional distress. He also is an experienced appellate attorney and has successfully handled appeals in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits and certiorari proceedings in the United States Supreme Court.
In addition to his litigation practice, he also regularly provides training for managers and human resources professionals and practical and strategic advice to clients regarding compliance with federal and state employment laws, employment policies, and best practices to avoid employment litigation. He also utilizes his corporate law experience and business acumen to regularly assist clients with complex employment and incentive agreements, noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements, confidentiality agreements, and severance agreements.
Christopher is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Military Assistance Mission, an Arizona charitable organization dedicated to providing our Armed Forces personnel with the support and assistance they deserve.