Christopher R. Conley

Chris is an Associate in Ryan Swanson’s Litigation group. He recently relocated to Seattle from Macon, Georgia, where he has been practicing law with a mid-size firm since 2017. Chris joins Ryan Swanson with significant litigation experience, having served as lead counsel in many complex commercial cases. He has extensive experience practicing in the trial, appellate, and supreme courts as well as numerous arbitration matters.

Construction Defense

Chris has extensive experience representing clients in construction disputes. In 2018, Chris represented a general contractor defending a multi-million dollar negligent construction claim in the Middle District of Georgia. That litigation was resolved after Chris successfully briefed a certified question at the Supreme Court of Georgia which ruled in the general contractor’s favor on disputed novel issues of law. Chris went on the file a motion for summary judgment based on the Supreme Court’s favorable finding, and the matter was resolved in the general contractor’s favor as a matter of law.

Crop Insurance Defense

In 2017, Chris developed a crop insurance practice and has been successfully arbitrating crop insurance disputes ever since. Chris has represented approved insurance providers in numerous disputed claims including multi-peril and whole farm revenue crop insurance matters. For example in 2019, Chris represented an approved insurance provider who denied a whole farm revenue policy claim. That matter was successfully resolved in Chris’ client’s favor when the arbitrator found that the claim was correctly denied under the Federal Crop Insurance Act.

Appellate Work

Chris has practiced at the appellate and supreme court levels as his experience has often involved complex litigation of novel issues. In 2021, Chris represented a commercial greenhouse operation against several nearby neighbors who sued Chris’ client for nuisance. Chris successfully obtained a summary judgment ruling at the trial court level, and that ruling was appealed. Chris briefed the Court of Appeals on a light nuisance issue that had never been decided by the court before. After drafting numerous briefs and presenting oral argument on the matter, the Appellate Court ruled in Chris’ client’s favor by upholding the summary judgment order.

Probate

Chris has represented several clients in probate court to resolve issues of disputed estates. In 2019, Chris represented a widow against her daughter-in-law to preserve the widow’s interest in her late husband’s estate after the husband’s will was changed through undue influence. In 2021, Chris represented three daughters to preserve the estate of their late mother. Again, Chris’ clients were seeking to prove that their mother’s will was the product of undue influence. Chris successfully proved to the probate court in both matters that it should preserve his clients’ interest in their loved one’s estate.

General Counsel Services

Chris serves a wide-array of corporate clients offering numerous services including entity formation, contract review, drafting, and analysis, dispute negotiation, liability planning, regulatory compliance, and much more.