Partner
Chris Regan
- Notre Dame Law School, J.D. (2000)
- University of Notre Dame, B.A. (1997)
Chris Regan focuses his practice on high-stakes litigation and jury trials. He has obtained eight-figure verdicts and settlements, multiple awards of punitive damages, and substantial fee awards across diverse areas of law over his twenty-six years of practice. Chris has taken over forty civil cases to the jury.
Chris concentrates on cases involving serious misconduct both inside and outside the litigation process. His $50,000,000 verdict against Manorcare was at the time the largest ever in West Virginia for a case on behalf of a single plaintiff and was featured among the National Law Journal’s top 100 verdicts that year. He has also obtained major litigation sanctions, including default judgment in a mass tort case, against abusive opposing parties.
Chris has also successfully handled appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court at the certiorari stage, in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and before appellate courts in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. He has served as amicus counsel for a variety of organizations seeking to influence the direction of the law, particularly in West Virginia.
Chris has frequently spoken at seminars and continuing legal education conferences about a variety of litigation-related topics. He has received the West Virginia Association for Justice’s Member of the Year Award, and along with his client, Crystal Rogerson, received the Association’s inaugural “Advocate for Justice” award. He was selected as a “West Virginia Super Lawyer” for the last 11 years of his private practice there.
Most recently, Chris clerked for the Honorable Judge Joseph E. Barki, and he was previously a partner at Bordas & Bordas, PLLC, a summer associate at White & Case, LLP, and a summer clerk in the Chambers of the late U.S. District Judge Michael A. Telesca.
Chris has a life-long interest in politics and government and has written for The Atlantic, The New Republic, The Washington Examiner, and commented on politics and law for CNN, Tru TV, the award-winning NPR podcast Us and Them as well as Opening Arguments. He also served as the First Vice Chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party in 2015-16. Click here to see an example of his CNN commentary, or here for a speech he gave as a surrogate for a U.S. Presidential candidate.
Chris is a 1997 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a 2000 graduate of the Notre Dame Law School. Like a number of his colleagues at Stris, Chris competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate as a student, winning the national championship in that event in 1993 and captaining the United States National Debate Team at the World Championships the same year.
Trial Court
Boggs v. Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital Corporation
In this fraud, fraudulent concealment, and medical malpractice matter, Chris obtained a 6.4 million dollar jury verdict including 4.5 million dollars in punitive damages. The Court later awarded over 1.3 million dollars in attorney’s fees based on the hospital corporation’s litigation misconduct. Because the defendant had filed a baseless countersuit against Chris’ client, a malicious prosecution case followed, which settled confidentially.
Stonebridge v. Antero
In this mineral-rights-development controversy, a large natural gas operator attempted to walk away from its promises to a relatively small landholder. Chris obtained a favorable judgment on the pleadings in relation to his client’s contract rights leading to a settlement.
Meredith v. Healthcare and Retirement Corporation of America
In this wrongful death matter, Chris obtained a $50,000,000 verdict against a nursing home, as well as a jury recommendation for punitive damages. The case was featured in the National Law Journal at the time and in the Journal’s year-end list of the largest verdicts in the country.
Timmons v. American Electric Power and McLaughlin v. American Electric Power
In these related cases arising from an explosion at a power plant, Chris represented injured plaintiffs at two separate trials, conducted in Marietta, Ohio, and then in Moundsville, West Virginia. Both jury trials resulted in multi-million dollar verdicts for Chris’ clients, as well as findings of aggravated negligence justifying punitive damages and attorney’s fees against the corporate defendants.
Appellate Work
Palisades and AT&T Mobility v. Shorts
In this consumer rights case, Chris successfully argued at the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit and won a decision over a dissent by Judge Niemeyer that a counterclaim class action by a consumer was not removable under the Class Action Fairness Act because such removals can only be undertaken by “a defendant.” Click here to read the opinion.
State ex rel. Richmond American Homes v. Sanders
Among the only decisions of its kind, a trial court entered default judgment on liability as a sanction for litigation misconduct in a mass-tort case on behalf of over 100 plaintiffs. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia remanded with instructions that the default judgment would stand if certain analytical benchmarks were met — and that is what occurred, so the default judgment was reimposed on remand and withstood a second attempt to appeal it.
Brown v. Oil City
In this contractor liability matter, Chris persuaded the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court to reverse the trial judge and to find that liability for construction defects may attach even after the work is completed and “accepted” by the customer. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court later sustained this finding in a victory for plaintiffs across Pennsylvania. Click here to read the opinion.
State ex rel. Allstate v. Madden
This bad faith insurance case served as the vehicle for West Virginia to recognize the crime-fraud exception to attorney client privilege and set new standards allowing inquiry, including depositions of corporate counsel, where their advice is shown to have been given in furtherance of a crime or fraud.
State ex rel. Erie v. Mazzone, II
Chris’s client won discovery of insurer reserves in this bad faith insurance case as the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia applied the standards it had adopted in Mazzone I two years earlier, substantially expanding his client’s prospects for reaching and advantageous settlement of her case, which later occurred.
“Yes, Joe Manchin Will Face Blowback in West Virginia,” The New Republic, 2021
“What the Media is Missing About Joe Manchin,” The Atlantic, 2021
“A Political Ad Dressed up as a Coal Lawsuit,” The Washington Examiner, 2015
“Dems Sully Themselves Supporting Blankenship” The Washington Examiner, 2018
11 Years West Virginia Super Lawyer
West Virginia Association for Justice Member of the Year
West Virginia Association for Justice “Advocate for Justice” Award
The State Journal Generation Next
Overview
Chris Regan focuses his practice on high-stakes litigation and jury trials. He has obtained eight-figure verdicts and settlements, multiple awards of punitive damages, and substantial fee awards across diverse areas of law over his twenty-six years of practice. Chris has taken over forty civil cases to the jury.
Chris concentrates on cases involving serious misconduct both inside and outside the litigation process. His $50,000,000 verdict against Manorcare was at the time the largest ever in West Virginia for a case on behalf of a single plaintiff and was featured among the National Law Journal’s top 100 verdicts that year. He has also obtained major litigation sanctions, including default judgment in a mass tort case, against abusive opposing parties.
Chris has also successfully handled appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court at the certiorari stage, in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and before appellate courts in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. He has served as amicus counsel for a variety of organizations seeking to influence the direction of the law, particularly in West Virginia.
Chris has frequently spoken at seminars and continuing legal education conferences about a variety of litigation-related topics. He has received the West Virginia Association for Justice’s Member of the Year Award, and along with his client, Crystal Rogerson, received the Association’s inaugural “Advocate for Justice” award. He was selected as a “West Virginia Super Lawyer” for the last 11 years of his private practice there.
Most recently, Chris clerked for the Honorable Judge Joseph E. Barki, and he was previously a partner at Bordas & Bordas, PLLC, a summer associate at White & Case, LLP, and a summer clerk in the Chambers of the late U.S. District Judge Michael A. Telesca.
Chris has a life-long interest in politics and government and has written for The Atlantic, The New Republic, The Washington Examiner, and commented on politics and law for CNN, Tru TV, the award-winning NPR podcast Us and Them as well as Opening Arguments. He also served as the First Vice Chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party in 2015-16. Click here to see an example of his CNN commentary, or here for a speech he gave as a surrogate for a U.S. Presidential candidate.
Chris is a 1997 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a 2000 graduate of the Notre Dame Law School. Like a number of his colleagues at Stris, Chris competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate as a student, winning the national championship in that event in 1993 and captaining the United States National Debate Team at the World Championships the same year.
Representative Matters
Trial Court
Boggs v. Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital Corporation
In this fraud, fraudulent concealment, and medical malpractice matter, Chris obtained a 6.4 million dollar jury verdict including 4.5 million dollars in punitive damages. The Court later awarded over 1.3 million dollars in attorney’s fees based on the hospital corporation’s litigation misconduct. Because the defendant had filed a baseless countersuit against Chris’ client, a malicious prosecution case followed, which settled confidentially.
Stonebridge v. Antero
In this mineral-rights-development controversy, a large natural gas operator attempted to walk away from its promises to a relatively small landholder. Chris obtained a favorable judgment on the pleadings in relation to his client’s contract rights leading to a settlement.
Meredith v. Healthcare and Retirement Corporation of America
In this wrongful death matter, Chris obtained a $50,000,000 verdict against a nursing home, as well as a jury recommendation for punitive damages. The case was featured in the National Law Journal at the time and in the Journal’s year-end list of the largest verdicts in the country.
Timmons v. American Electric Power and McLaughlin v. American Electric Power
In these related cases arising from an explosion at a power plant, Chris represented injured plaintiffs at two separate trials, conducted in Marietta, Ohio, and then in Moundsville, West Virginia. Both jury trials resulted in multi-million dollar verdicts for Chris’ clients, as well as findings of aggravated negligence justifying punitive damages and attorney’s fees against the corporate defendants.
Appellate Work
Palisades and AT&T Mobility v. Shorts
In this consumer rights case, Chris successfully argued at the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit and won a decision over a dissent by Judge Niemeyer that a counterclaim class action by a consumer was not removable under the Class Action Fairness Act because such removals can only be undertaken by “a defendant.” Click here to read the opinion.
State ex rel. Richmond American Homes v. Sanders
Among the only decisions of its kind, a trial court entered default judgment on liability as a sanction for litigation misconduct in a mass-tort case on behalf of over 100 plaintiffs. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia remanded with instructions that the default judgment would stand if certain analytical benchmarks were met — and that is what occurred, so the default judgment was reimposed on remand and withstood a second attempt to appeal it.
Brown v. Oil City
In this contractor liability matter, Chris persuaded the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court to reverse the trial judge and to find that liability for construction defects may attach even after the work is completed and “accepted” by the customer. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court later sustained this finding in a victory for plaintiffs across Pennsylvania. Click here to read the opinion.
State ex rel. Allstate v. Madden
This bad faith insurance case served as the vehicle for West Virginia to recognize the crime-fraud exception to attorney client privilege and set new standards allowing inquiry, including depositions of corporate counsel, where their advice is shown to have been given in furtherance of a crime or fraud.
State ex rel. Erie v. Mazzone, II
Chris’s client won discovery of insurer reserves in this bad faith insurance case as the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia applied the standards it had adopted in Mazzone I two years earlier, substantially expanding his client’s prospects for reaching and advantageous settlement of her case, which later occurred.
Publications
“Yes, Joe Manchin Will Face Blowback in West Virginia,” The New Republic, 2021
“What the Media is Missing About Joe Manchin,” The Atlantic, 2021
“A Political Ad Dressed up as a Coal Lawsuit,” The Washington Examiner, 2015
“Dems Sully Themselves Supporting Blankenship” The Washington Examiner, 2018
Awards
11 Years West Virginia Super Lawyer
West Virginia Association for Justice Member of the Year
West Virginia Association for Justice “Advocate for Justice” Award
The State Journal Generation Next