Violette, Mary Ann

Chris Vergonis is a trial and appellate lawyer who has represented clients at all levels of the state and federal judiciaries, including in numerous cases before the United States Supreme Court. Chris focuses a significant amount of his practice on administrative law and civil litigation against the federal government. Representative undertakings in these areas include assisting a foreign bank in a regulatory dispute with the United States Treasury Department under the Patriot Act, representing pharmaceutical and medical device companies in litigation relating to the FDA approval process, representing plaintiffs in damages lawsuits under the Federal Tort Claims Act and equitable actions under the Administrative Procedure Act, and litigating constitutional claims against government officials, for example, a claim by a prominent businessman for retaliatory prosecution in violation of the First Amendment and a separation of powers challenge to the authority of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Chris also has a trial and international arbitration practice that spans several industries and includes significant experience handling complex commercial disputes, antitrust and patent matters, civil RICO cases, and alien tort litigation. Representative clients in recent matters have included Alfa Finance, Bayer, Chevron, Delta Asia Financial Group, Free Enterprise Fund, Menasha, Pfizer, R.J. Reynolds, SARP Industries/Onyx, Texas Instruments, and WorldSpace International.

Chris has written or coauthored several articles and white papers on constitutional law and statutory interpretation and currently serves as the publications chair of the Administrative Law & Regulation Section of the Federalist Society.