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 also routinely conducts independent HR investigations into employee complaints, including sexual harassment and racial discrimination, providing a written report with assessments of witness credibility and veracity of claims.

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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