Commercial Litigation Employment Law - Management Litigation - Labor and Employment
Christopher A. "Chris" Holland
Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2025 Awarded Practice Areas
Biography
Christopher A. Holland is a member of the firm’s litigation group where he represents corporate and institutional clients in commercial litigation, tax litigation, government contracts, employment law, education law, and land use. After a clerkship for the Honorable Pamela B. Minzner at the Supreme Court of New Mexico, Chris joined Sutin, Thayer & Browne in 1996. He left the firm in 2018 to serve as Chief Counsel of the New Mexico National Guard, a State organization comprising more than 3,500 service members and civilian employees. We welcomed him back to the firm in 2023.
Chris has decades of experience in all phases of litigation and is rated as AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. Best Lawyers in America® has recognized him for his skill and expertise in various practice areas, including commercial litigation, employment law, and education law. And Chambers USA and Southwest Super Lawyers have recognized him in past years.
Chris served as a U.S. Army officer in the active and reserve components for almost four decades, retiring in 2021 at the rank of colonel. He is a veteran of the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars.
Overview
- English
- University of New Mexico, J.D., graduated 1994
- Eastern New Mexico University, graduated 1982
- University of New Mexico, graduated 1994
- Colorado, Colorado Bar Association
- New Mexico, State Bar of New Mexico
- New Mexico - Supreme Court
- English
- Colorado, Colorado Bar Association
- New Mexico, State Bar of New Mexico
- University of New Mexico, J.D., graduated 1994
- Eastern New Mexico University, graduated 1982
- University of New Mexico, graduated 1994
- New Mexico - Supreme Court
Client Testimonials
Awards & Focus
Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers® for:
- Education Law, Albuquerque (2015)
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 for work in:
- Commercial Litigation
- Employment Law - Management
- Litigation - Labor and Employment
Case History
Cases
- State ex rel Board of Regents of Eastern New Mexico University v. Baca, 189 P.3d 663 (2008)
Original action in the Supreme Court of New Mexico in which the Board of Regents of a state university sought a writ of prohibition against a state district court. The Supreme Court granted the writ and ordered the defendant district court to transfer the action to the district court in another county where the state university was located. This case decided the meaning of a clause in the State Constitution that confers appellate jurisdiction in the district courts over "inferior tribunals" in the district. The Supreme Court held that an administrative bid protest proceeding at the plaintiff university was an "inferior tribunal," as that term appears in the State Constitution. Therefore, appellate jurisdiction over the bid protest vested exclusively in the district court where the university was located.
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