Chris Mason is a litigator well known for his extensive experience in class action defense, arbitration, and complex financial disputes. He typically represents consumer products, technology, financial services, private equity or industrial companies in state or federal trial and appellate courts, in domestic arbitration and mediation or in regulatory inquiries. Chris also leads the firm’s Arbitration team of over 150 attorneys.
What do you focus on?
My primary goal as a lawyer is to help businesses manage the risks and outcomes of significant disputes.
I have defended many large class or mass actions and prosecuted or defended significant cases in more than half of the states in the country, in numerous federal courts and before the American Arbitration Association, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, and FINRA.
- In the largest consumer class action in history, with over 200 million class members and minimum statutory damages of $500 billion to well over $1 trillion, I successfully represented a prominent data company that refused to settle when the others in its industry did.
- I have handled many wireless telecommunications cases, including cases for each of the three largest domestic carriers and for the largest international carrier. Among other things, I have won the first appellate decision under New York law upholding class action waivers against claims of unconscionability and have made new law in the Fifth Circuit as to whether governmental entities can be members of putative consumer classes.
- For a leading technology company, I eliminated both a mass action and a mass arbitration that threatened to disrupt its unique sales and distribution channels.
- For the world’s largest wine company, I settled a nationwide class action over millions of bottles of allegedly fraudulent wine, not only for less than seven figures, but for less than the settlement paid by the client’s major competitor. I have also represented that client in defeating multiple lawsuits alleging the presence of arsenic in their wines, including defeating efforts to create a multidistrict litigation and eventually achieving dismissals in five different jurisdictions.
- I have successfully resolved or defeated claims in multiple class actions in multiple jurisdictions for leading providers of consumer information about cars and trucks.
- For several financial services clients, I have pioneered a unique jurisdictional technique in the resolution of certain kinds of disputes over structured products.
- For the world’s leading luxury jewelry brand, I won a seven figure award in a complex purchase price dispute arbitration.
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