Christopher is one of the nation’s leading M&A and corporate governance trial lawyers with extensive experience prosecuting breach of fiduciary duty and appraisal claims in the Delaware Court of Chancery and in state and federal courts across the country.
Christopher has acted as a key member of the trial teams in In re Mindbody, Inc.Stockholders Litigation; In re Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc. Merger Litigation; In re Appraisal of Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc.; and In re BGC Partners, Inc. Derivative Litigation. Recently, Christopher achieved a precedent-setting trial victory in In re Mindbody, Inc. Stockholders Litigation. The Delaware Court of Chancery held that a class of former Mindbody stockholders are entitled to damages of $1 per share over the deal price against both Mindbody’s former CEO and Vista Equity Partners. Christopher acted as first chair of the trial and executed a two-day cross-examination of Mindbody’s former CEO.
He also led teams that have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors, improved corporate governance practices, and vindicated fundamental shareholder voting and franchise rights including, for example: In re Starz Stockholder Litigation ($92.5 million settlement); In re Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc. Merger Litigation ($79 million partial settlement against officer defendants); In re Mindbody, Inc. Stockholders Litigation ($27 million partial settlement against director defendant and venture capital fund); In re MultiPlan Corp. Stockholders Litigation ($33.75 million settlement); In re Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. Stockholders Litigation ($32.5 million and enhanced corporate governance protections settlement); In re Vaalco Energy, Inc. Consolidated Stockholder Litigation (obtained ruling preventing Delaware corporations with unclassified boards from using bylaws to shield directors from being removed without cause); and In re Tile Shop Holdings, Inc. Litigation (obtained temporary restraining order and settlement consisting of a $12 million cash payment and significant non-monetary benefits).
Christopher obtained his joint J.D. and M.B.A. from Villanova University School of Law and School of Business. Additionally, Christopher obtained his B.A. in Economics from Yale University, where he was Captain of the Varsity Baseball Team.
Christopher serves as a lecturer on shareholder rights and corporate litigation at the Villanova University School of Law, Duke University School of Law, Columbia Law School and the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is a member of the Villanova and Yale Mentoring Programs.
Client-centered. Value driven. Trial-ready