Christopher A Duggan

Practice Areas

Appeals

Art and Cultural Property

Aviation Law

Fire & Explosion Litigation

Insurance Coverage

Litigation

Medical Malpractice Defense

Premises Liability

Product Liability Litigation

Professional Liability

Public & Constitutional Law

Voting Rights & Redistricting

Career

Chris is one of the most accomplished trial and appellate lawyers in the United States. He has tried more than 100 cases to jury verdict in federal and state courts across Massachusetts and in several other New England states. His clients include publicly traded and privately held companies, insurers and reinsurers, and individuals in complex, large risk litigation across a broad variety of matters, including product liability, premises liability, professional malpractice, aviation, insurance coverage disputes, and other high-profile, media-sensitive matters. Ironically, his love for trying cases often results in quicker resolution of cases that can be settled.

Professional Memberships

ABA/TIPS Trial College, Faculty 2016

American Board of Trial Advocates

- Master's in Trial Program, Faculty

-National Secretary, 2012 – present

Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association (1985-present)

-President 1998-1999

International Association of Defense Counsel

Publications

Editor, Trial Strategy (Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education)

Third Party Practice in Massachusetts: Why More is Not Always Merrier

The Fundamentals of Expert Cross-Examination: The Lawyer as Expert

Thinking Inside the Box: Critical Components of Effective Trial Advocacy

Effective Techniques in Closing Argument

Use of Industry Standards in Defending Designers of Ground Service Vehicles; AAAE, ANSI, and the Unique Requirements of Airside Equipment

Kasels in the Air: Kasel v. Remington Arms, the Apparent Manufacturer Doctrine and Current Issues in Trademark Licensing Liability

The Promise and Reality of Expert Testimony after Daubert and Kuomo Tire (or why you should think three times before filing a Daubert Motion)

Magna Carta, Foundation of American Law (Voir Dire Magazine 2015)

Mifflin Gibbs, Maude Crawford, and the Unsung Heroes of the Arkansas Bar

Sailing, Sinning, Sex and Swinging: How Four New England Obsessions Helped Shape Hawaiian Law

Until My Dying Day: James Otis, the Writs of Assistance, and the Beginning of the Revolutionary Movement

James Purcell and Mitsuye Endo: Forgotten Partnership, Enduring Principles

Yawkey Way, International Society of Barristers Quarterly, 2016

The Seventh Amendment and the Confirmation Hearings: Reviving a Constitutional Right (Voir Dire Magazine, Spring 2017)

Clients

His clients include publicly traded and privately held companies, insurers and reinsurers, and individuals in complex, large risk litigation across a broad variety of matters, including product liability, premises liability, professional malpractice, aviation, insurance coverage disputes, and other high-profile, media-sensitive matters. Ironically, his love for trying cases often results in quicker resolution of cases that can be settled..

Work Highlights

He successfully joined Professor Akhil Reed Amar in filing an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court in Moore v. United States (2024), a case related to the ability of the federal government to tax unrealized gains as income. The Supreme Court upheld the Mandatory Repatriation Tax (MRT). Moreover, the tax fell within the authority of Congress under the Constitution.

Previously, he successfully joined with Professor Akhil Reed Amar, Dean Vikrum David Amar and Professor Steven Gow Calabresi in filing an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court in Moore v. Harper (2023), a case involving the meaning and application of Article I §4 of the United States Constitution, which addresses central issues in American Constitutional law including the original understanding of the Framers, federalism, separation of powers and judicial review of state legislative redistricting plans.

In Fitzpatrick v. Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers, et al., SJC 12937, ___ N.E.3d __ 2021 WL 2024453, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a trial judge’s decision ordering a mistrial based upon plaintiff’s Reptilian closing argument. His successful appeal before the Supreme Judicial Court overcame "Reptile Tactics" by plaintiff's counsel, apparently the first time that has been accomplished in an American court.

An avid historian, Chris enjoys representing universities, museums, and collectors in cases involving authenticity and title to works of art and historic artifacts. He prevailed in a case tried in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for the owner of a highly coveted Civil War Tiffany presentation sword stolen from an Ivy League university museum and appeared almost four decades later in possession of a noted Virginia collector. The case garnered national interest among museums and collectors of art and historic artifacts.

He also secured a temporary restraining order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Central California, preventing the owner of an online auction from selling, transferring, or reproducing documents from the confidential student file of the late John F. Kennedy, Jr. Shortly thereafter, judgment was obtained in favor of Brown University, and the file was returned.

He successfully argued for the affirmance of judgment for the aviation insurer before the First Circuit Court of Appeals in a precedent-setting case involving the interpretation of an aviation insurance policy subscribed to by several Lloyds's syndicates and managed by United States Aviation Underwriters.

Chris’s aviation practice also includes representing three of the world's largest commercial air carriers, a Part 139 certified airport, several leading aviation insurance companies, and FBOs throughout Massachusetts for over two decades. He has represented aircraft manufacturers and manufacturers of component parts in high-stakes litigation involving alleged defects in both fixed-wing and rotorcraft accidents.

Finally, he has argued successfully before the SJC and obtained a judgment affirming summary judgment for the commercial premises owner in a catastrophic accident and adopting Restatement (Second) of Torts sec.314 as state law

Industry Sector Expertise

Chris regularly appears on behalf of consumer product manufacturers and large retailers in matters across New England. He has won verdicts for clients in several states in cases involving the design and manufacture of power tools, industrial products, hand tools, electronic sensors, and consumer appliances. In these cases, a thorough understanding of science, design principles, and industry standards is crucial, and the ability to effectively convey those concepts to a jury is essential for achieving favorable outcomes.

He also has successfully litigated cases involving the interpretation of aviation insurance policies, including a recent precedent-setting decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He has also provided legal representation to insurers, including admitted and non-admitted carriers and Lloyd’s of London syndicates. We also represent businesses and individuals in the interpretation of insurance policies and their application to bodily injury, personal injury, and property damage claims.

He also secured a temporary restraining order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Central California, preventing the owner of an online auction from selling, transferring, or reproducing documents from the confidential student file of the late John F. Kennedy, Jr. Shortly thereafter, judgment was obtained in favor of Brown University, and the file was returned.

Chris Duggan joined with Professor Akhil Reed Amar, Dean Vikrum David Amar and Professor Steven Gow Calabresi in filing an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court in Moore v. Harper, a case involving the meaning and application of Article I §4 of the United States Constitution, which addresses central issues in American Constitutional law including the original understanding of the framers, federalism, separation of powers, and judicial review of state legislative redistricting plans.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Bar Admissions

Massachusetts, 1985

Court Admissions

U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts

U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit

United States Supreme Court

Experience

Chris is one of the most accomplished trial and appellate lawyers in the United States. He has tried more than 100 cases to jury verdict in federal and state courts across Massachusetts and in several other New England states.

He has also briefed or argued in about 40 cases in federal and state appellate courts across the country.

Personal

He founded the James Otis Lecture Series, an annual lecture series for high school students that addresses a different topic of law and history in the American Experience.

In 2009, Chris created the William Whiting Award for Judicial Courage, named for a prominent but largely forgotten Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Court of Equity in Great Barrington who fought with the Massachusetts Line in the American Revolution and later stood for the rights of the oppressed farmers to fair trials following what became known as Shays’s Rebellion.

Chris has served as president of The Charitable Irish Society for four years, 2018 – 2022. The Charitable Irish Society is the oldest Irish Society in the Americas, with its founding in Boston in 1737. The Society now assists immigrants from all countries while promoting the cultural contributions of Irish immigrants to New England and America.

When COVID hit in 2020, Chris was a founder and board member of Lawyers Honoring COVID-19 Caregivers, Inc., a Charity created by leading members of the Massachusetts Bar to provide financial support for nurses and support staff at Massachusetts hospitals who cared for patients tirelessly and sometimes at great personal risk.

Education

Awards