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Partner / Deputy Leader, Class Actions and Aggregate Litigation / Leader, Arbitration Team
I'm a 2023 Nixon Peabody Pro Bono Champion.Read more about our Pro Bono program
Chris Mason is a litigator well known for his extensive experience in class action defense, arbitration, and complex financial disputes. He typically represents consumer products, technology, financial services, private equity, and industrial companies in state or federal trial and appellate courts, in domestic arbitration, and in regulatory inquiries. The deputy head of the firm’s Class Action team, Chris is also a member of the firm's Cybersecurity and Privacy team and leads the firm’s Arbitration team of over 150 attorneys. He has extensive experience in mediation, both representing parties and as a neutral, in a wide variety of cases.
Chris is a member of the firm's Pro Bono Committee. He is also a former member of the firm's Policy Committee.
My primary goal as a lawyer is to help businesses manage the risks and outcomes of significant disputes and to help them develop management, sales, and governance processes to avoid those risks and outcomes in the first place.
I have defended many large class or mass actions and prosecuted or defended significant cases in more than half of the states in the country, in numerous federal courts, and before the American Arbitration Association, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, and FINRA. I have successfully resolved well over 100 cases in mediation as a mediator or party representative.
Procedurally, the landscape on dispute resolution is continuing to change, with the COVID-19 pandemic having only accelerated it. Having drafted some of the most widely used arbitration clauses in the country and seen (and encouraged) the dramatic increase in the successful use of mediation, including in virtual environments, I believe it has become even more important for businesses to reassess on a constant basis their contracts and dispute resolution programs.
Substantively, I see a resurgence in government enforcement of consumer and civil rights protections at all levels, matched or exceeded only by an increase in the importance of privacy issues, both in the consumer and employment context. And while technology can help in many areas of the law, still nothing beats a lawyer willing to read every word of the relevant documents when complex disputes occur.
This article quotes Boston Complex Disputes partner George Skelly on Boston Beer Co.’s complete victory in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, a decision that affirmed a District Court dismissal of a proposed securities class-action lawsuit against the company. The NP team also included Boston Complex Disputes partner Morgan Nighan, Rochester Privacy and Technology partner Rick McGuirk, Boston Corporate senior counsel Fred Grein, New York City Complex Disputes partner Chris Mason, Boston Privacy and Technology counsel Ronaldo Rauseo-Ricupero, Boston Complex Disputes associate Matt Costello, and Boston paralegal Erin MacMahon. In addition to the Globe article, The American Lawyer also highlighted the Boston Beer victory in its Litigation Daily column on Tuesday.
This article covers a Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision affirming a District Court ruling that dismissed a proposed securities class-action lawsuit against Boston Beer Co., scoring a complete victory for the company. The NP team included Boston Complex Disputes partners George Skelly and Morgan Nighan, Rochester Privacy and Technology partner Rick McGuirk, Boston Corporate senior counsel Fred Grein, New York City Complex Disputes partner Chris Mason, Boston Privacy and Technology counsel Ronaldo Rauseo-Ricupero, Boston Complex Disputes associate Matt Costello, and Boston paralegal Erin MacMahon.
In this article on the Ninth Circuit’s decision which found that Amazon delivery drivers are exempt from mandatory arbitration, New York Complex Commercial Disputes partner Chris Mason is quoted for his thoughts on arbitration agreements and the importance of how choice of law clauses operate.
District of Columbia
New York
U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
U.S. District Court, Western District of New York
U.S. Supreme Court
Duke University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude (Order of the Coif)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A., summa cum laude (Phi Beta Kappa)
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