In Memoriam

Remembering

July 9, 1959 – June 12, 2026

With over four decades of experience and dozens of successful trials and arbitrations, Chris Reynolds was 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 focused exclusively on complex commercial and business litigation and arbitration. Because his undergraduate degree was in civil engineering, he was 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 also, on multiple occasions, served as an arbitrator or mediator in complex commercial litigation. These experiences enriched his understanding of both arbitration and mediation by providing him with “behind-the-scenes” views of these two forms of ADR.

Chris successfully tried and managed high-stakes disputes of nearly every description – all while continuing to personally manage his cases. He successfully represented clients in multiple trials and arbitrations in which hundreds of millions of dollars were at stake. His hands-on style stood apart from his peers, and clients lauded his “personal touch and sense of personal investment” in their matters. To bring that level of attention to each dispute, Chris usually started work around 5 a.m., making him a favorite of many European-based clients.  Chris knew 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 repeatedly honored Chris as a “Leading Individual” in Commercial Litigation and Energy & Natural Resources. Chris was also 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 was 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.

Chris’s impact on the legal community and the lives he touched will never be forgotten.

In Chris’s honor and in support of his lifelong commitment to education, we are pleased to support the Chris Reynolds Memorial Endowed Scholarship in Law at the University of Texas Law School.  Those wishing to support this scholarship may contribute here: https://utlsf.org/give/reynolds/.