Biography

With over three decades of experience and dozens of successful trials and arbitrations, Chris Reynolds is the consummate trial attorney. A competitor described Chris to Benchmark Litigation as “unbelievably smart, one of the smartest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, very ethical.” Chris focuses exclusively on complex commercial and business litigation and arbitration. Because his undergraduate degree was in civil engineering, he is particularly adept at representing clients in highly technical industries, such as oil and gas, electricity generation and trading, engineering and construction, and software technology. He has also, on multiple occasions, served as an arbitrator or mediator in complex commercial litigation. These experiences have enriched his understanding of both arbitration and mediation by providing him with “behind-the-scenes” views of these two forms of ADR.

Chris has successfully tried and managed high-stakes disputes of nearly every description – all while continuing to personally manage his cases. He has successfully represented clients in multiple trials and arbitrations in which hundreds of millions of dollars were at stake. His hands-on style stands apart from his peers, and clients laud his “personal touch and sense of personal investment” in their matters. To bring that level of attention to each dispute, Chris usually starts work around 5 a.m., making him a favorite of many European-based clients.  Chris knows that painstaking preparation is central to the job of a trial lawyer.

Chris became a “Fellow” in the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2006, after just 23 years in practice. The next year, he was inducted into ABOTA. In 2015, he became a “Fellow” in the International Society of Barristers. And, in 2019, he was inducted as a “Fellow” into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Chambers USA has repeatedly honored Chris as a “Leading Individual” in Commercial Litigation and Energy & Natural Resources. Chris has also been honored as a Top 100 Super Lawyer, as a Client Service All-Star, and as one of the Best Lawyers in America in “Bet-the-Company” Litigation and Commercial Litigation.  In fact, Best Lawyers named Chris Houston’s “Bet-the-Company” lawyer of the year for 2022.

Chris practiced at Gibbs & Bruns LLP and its predecessors for over twenty-six years before co-founding Reynolds Frizzell LLP in 2009.  Chris is proud of the reputation for smart, winning advocacy accompanied by a commitment to the highest ethical standards that Reynolds Frizzell has established with the courts, its clients and its competitors.  He remains committed to maintaining and building upon that reputation.

Representative Matters