• Overview
  • Representative Cases
  • Experience
  • Recognitions
  • Memberships
  • Professional Activities
  • Community Activities
  • News
  • Publications

Chris brings a solution-oriented approach that is fueled by his passion for finding the fastest path and most efficient angle to solve legal problems.

Education

  • Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College, J.D., cum laude, 1998
  • Santa Clara University, B.A., 1994

Admitted

  • Oregon
  • Washington
  • U.S. District Court, Oregon
Christopher J. Kayser
Christopher J. Kayser Attorney
Legal Assistant
Ana Nieves-Alvez971-323-0373|
Chambers USA
Recognized by
Best Lawyers®
Rated By
Super Lawyers

Chris brings a solution-oriented approach that is fueled by his passion for finding the fastest path and most efficient angle to solve legal problems.

Representative Cases

Represents 125 investors who collectively lost more than $50 million in a Ponzi-scheme

Defended multi-national electronics company against allegations of conspiring to fix the prices of electronic components

Won jury trial for client entitled to profit share from weapons parts manufacturing company

Represents government agency in allocation process related to over $1 billion in remediation costs for the cleanup of a Superfund site

Represented shareholders of water technology company seeking to recover over $10 million

Represented founders and majority shareholders in health care company worth over $100 million against failed take-over attempt by private equity firm

Defended a fish processing company in multimillion dollar antitrust class action law suit; case resolved with plaintiffs dropping all damages claims

Representation of a chemical manufacturer in multimillion dollar contract action related to dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) groundwater contamination and related environmental remediation costs; won partial summary judgment resulting in $3.1 million recovery

Representation of Venezuelan deposit insurance company in a $25 million malicious prosecution action; case dismissed

Defended large law firm in a $13 million legal malpractice suit; case settled

Represented international pharmaceutical company in grand jury investigation; investigation concluded without an indictment

Represented bank executive in criminal proceeding which concluded with plea agreement

Represented corporations in internal investigations involving accounting fraud, environmental crimes, and regulatory compliance issues

Experience

Chris Kayser focuses his practice on complex commercial, antitrust, securities, and environmental litigation representing both individuals and corporations. He has been named as a U.S. News & World Report Best Lawyer in the categories of commercial litigation, securities litigation, antitrust and environmental litigation. Adept at understanding complicated legal issues, Chris brings strategic judgment to map a course for efficient and effective litigation. He began his career at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. where he quickly rose within the ranks to take responsibility for high profile cases, several of which had eight and nine-figure outcomes at stake.

Following his years at the Department of Justice, Chris worked for the D.C. office of Baker Botts, LLP, representing clients across the country in white collar criminal matters and complex commercial litigation. In 2006, he returned to his hometown Portland, Oregon, where he has developed a high-stakes commercial litigation practice representing both individual and corporate clients. He has successfully represented large groups of investors seeking to recover their investments in fraudulent securities offerings from national accounting and law firms, defended a multi-national electronics company against allegations of violating antitrust laws, and represented a government agency in a billion dollar environmental allocation process.

Recognitions

Recognized in Best Lawyers® for Commercial Litigation, Antitrust Litigation, Environmental Litigation, and Securities Litigation in Oregon (2015-present)

Oregon Super Lawyers

United States Department of Justice, Tax Division, Outstanding Attorney Award (2000)

Memberships

American Bar Association

Owen M. Panner American Inn of Court Executive Committee

Multnomah Bar Association CLE Committee

Oregon State Bar Business Litigation Section Executive Committee

Professional Activities

CLE Speaker: Effective Strategies for Expert Depositions, co-presenter, Multnomah Bar Association (2016)

CLE Speaker: Inadvertent Loyalties in Joint Defense Agreements, Inns of Court (2013)

Moderator: Debate between candidates for Oregon Attorney General, Ellen Rosenblum and Dwight Holton, Inns of Court (2012)

CLE Speaker: The Anatomy of a Derivative Action (MBA 2012, co-presenter)

CLE Speaker: The Ethics of the Unethical Witness, Inns of Court 2008

Community Activities

Wilshire Little League Board Member; Youth Baseball Coach

Alameda Elementary Chess Team Coach

Founder of Portland Village School Chess Club

Publications

Oregon Civil Pleading & Practice, Ch. 7: Substitution of Parties, Oregon State Bar (2012) (co-author)

The Role of the Corporate Attorney in a Closely Held Corporate Derivative Suit, Oregon State Bar Litigation Journal (Spring 2012)

Conservation Easements: The Blues of Before and After Valuation, Valuation Strategies (Sept. 1998)