Christopher A. Lilly

Mr. Lilly is a trial lawyer with extensive experience in the fields of employment, financial fraud, and competition and media. Mr. Lilly first chaired a five-week jury trial in an investment fraud matter and obtained a judgment of $20.3 million for his client. He first chaired a two-week arbitration and obtained a $7.1 million award in a wrongful termination of a distribution agreement matter for a retailer client. He was also selected as a Best Lawyer in Employment Law from 2020-2023 by The Best Lawyers peer reviewed publication, and handles employment litigation and advice and consulting on a daily basis.

Mr. Lilly is also chair of the firm’s Recruiting Committee.

Professional Experience

Before joining TroyGould, Mr. Lilly was an associate with Morrison & Foerster LLP, where he worked extensively on employment, competition, and securities matters.

He began his career as a legal intern at the labor and employment law firm of Epstein, Becker & Green, and also served as an extern to Hon. Harry Pregerson (United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit).

Employment

  • First chaired six-day jury trial and obtained defense verdict against a former executive in his lawsuit for a golden parachute payout and obtained a substantial attorney fee award against the former employee
  • Represented Fortune 500 company in disability discrimination arbitration; settled on favorable terms
  • Retained by an employer after a jury returned a verdict for a million dollars for an employee in a wrongful termination case; filed and won a motion for a new trial, which vacated the verdict, and the case settled on favorable terms
  • Represented employer accused of age and religious discrimination in wrongful termination action; settled on favorable terms before the need to file a summary judgment motion
  • Represented clients in administrative hearings and appeals to successfully deny former employees unemployment benefits
  • Regularly provides sexual harassment training for managers (AB 1825)

Competition and Media

  • Represented a retailer in a two-week arbitration against a large, national manufacturer, bringing claims for wrongful termination of the distribution agreements both under breach of contract and disguised franchise theories. Obtained a $7.1 million final award for the retailer.
  • Defended numerous companies in Lanham Act cases
  • Represented Fortune 500 company in false advertising class action; prevailed on motion to dismiss
  • Obtained multi-million dollar settlement for writer in royalty dispute with large Hollywood studio
  • Obtained favorable settlement requiring no payment of money by film editing company in Internet defamation case
  • Represented Canadian company sued in internet dispute, and obtained walk-away settlement after prevailing on a motion to quash for lack of jurisdiction

Securities & Finance

  • Represented investor defrauded in decades-long scam by his investment advisor; first chaired five-week jury trial and obtained a verdict of $20.3 million for the investor
  • Defended a public company in an action by numerous shareholders alleging they were fraudulently induced to purchase their shares, and also fraudulently induced to hold their shares; settled with no payment by the company
  • In a securities fraud case, obtained judgment of dismissal for our client by having complaint dismissed with prejudice upon demurrer
  • Obtained judgment of dismissal for 51 defendant shareholders and venture capitalists sued for securities fraud and cancellation of their stock certificates following reverse merger
  • In action to cancel former employee’s stock certificates and defense of his cross-action to invalidate the company’s patents, obtained favorable settlement for cancellation of stock and maintenance of intellectual property
  • Represented individuals in SEC interviews; responded to SEC subpoenas; represented company in revocation of registration proceedings

Appellate

  • Obtained opinion from Court of Appeal affirming defense judgment in favor of our employer-client in employment jury trial
  • Obtained opinion from Court of Appeal affirming award of attorneys’ fees in our client’s favor
  • Obtained writ of mandate from Court of Appeal vacating trial court’s denial of our client’s motion for summary judgment
  • Obtained opinion from Court of Appeal affirming trial court’s order setting aside a default judgment against our client
  • Obtained opinion from Court of Appeal affirming trial court’s order in our client’s favor sustaining demurrer to plaintiff’s complaint without leave to amend
  • Obtained writ of mandate from Court of Appeal reversing trial court decision against our client denying motion for leave to amend complaint
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Accolades & Affiliations