Chris Akin has 16 years of litigation experience that includes a unique combination of significant plaintiff-side contingency fee engagements and high-profile defense engagements in the areas of directors’ and officers’ liability lawsuits, securities litigation, and complex oil and gas disputes. On the plaintiff side, Mr. Akin has helped LTPC expand its presence in bankruptcy-related litigation, with that practice area generating record proceeds in 2011 and continuing that momentum with an engagement that has generated worldwide media coverage. On the defense side, Mr. Akin has played a key role in LTPC’s successful representation of directors and officers in a multi-billion dollar dispute involving alleged securities fraud and successful defense of a proposed $9 billion merger. LTPC also has expanded its presence in energy-related litigation. The firm’s growth in these areas is attributable to its track record of successful trial experience, its subject matter knowledge, and the compelling value provided by the firm’s business model.

Chris has handled a wide variety of commercial litigation disputes, but he has developed considerable experience in the following areas: complex oil and gas disputes, securities litigation and directors' and officers' liability lawsuits. Chris's energy experience includes operational disputes, disputes between surface owners and mineral rights owners, disputes relating to midstream assets, and other disputes. Chris's securities experience includes playing an important role in Carrington Coleman's representation of the former CEO and Chairman of the Board of a company whose bankruptcy filing was, at the time of the filing in 2001, the largest in history. He has also played a key role in defending securities lawsuits filed against the outside board of director members of a Texas-based company that was previously one of the largest grocery wholesalers in the United States. In the area of directors and officers liability, he represented the former officers and directors of a high profile start-up company against breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by a bankruptcy trustee seeking to recover approximately $25 million in outstanding creditor claims.

Over the course of his career, Chris has also handled a wide variety of disputes, including claims involving breach of contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, deceptive trade practices and many others. Chris has achieved successful results for his clients in jury trial and arbitration settings.

From 2005-2008, Chris has been named by Law & Politics magazine as a "Rising Star” in Texas law (as seen in Texas Monthly). In June 2008, he was recognized by The Dallas Business Journal as a top litigator in the Dallas Ft. Worth area in their annual "Defenders” publication.

Education

University of Virginia, J.D., 1995

Assistant Editor - Virginia Law Review, Order of the Coif, Roger & Madeleine Traynor Prize for Best Written Work by a Graduating Student

University of Evansville, B.S., 1992

Judicial Clerkship

Honorable Sidney A. Fitzwater, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas

Admittances

Texas 1995

U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Associations/Affiliations

Co-editor - In-House Litigator.

Member, Non-Appropriated Fund Committee for the United States District Court, Northern District of Texas.

Speeches/Publications

Co-authored a chapter in the Fifth Circuit Trial Practice Guide, a joint project of the American Inns of Court and Thomson Legal Publishing.

Awards and Achievements