EXPERIENCE
Chris Toll is a partner at Holland & Hart and a former chair of the firm's Business Litigation Practice Group. He has been a trial lawyer for 23 years and has successfully tried numerous jury trials, bench trials, preliminary injunction hearings, and commercial arbitrations. He has been recognized in Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America, and SuperLawyers in the category of business litigation.
Mr. Toll's trial practice concentrates in three areas: commercial, trade secrets/covenants not to compete, and personal injury defense. He has also developed a procedural specialty in obtaining temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions.
In his commercial practice, Mr. Toll has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in cases involving asset purchases, sales contracts, computer software licensing agreements, patent licenses, processing agreements, partnership agreements, and in various other commercial and business tort contexts.
Mr. Toll has also prosecuted a substantial number of cases involving trade secrets, covenants not to compete, and other claims relating to departing employees. These cases typically involve immediate injunctive relief, and he has had a high success rate in obtaining temporary restraining orders and/or preliminary injunctions on behalf of his clients.
In the tort side of his practice, Mr. Toll has successfully tried premises and product liability cases involving fires and other hazards. He has represented heavy equipment, pharmaceutical, and other manufacturers in products claims based on negligence, strict products liability, and breach of warranty.
Mr. Toll currently serves on Holland & Hart’s five-member Management Committee.
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
 Obtained a $1.7 million jury verdict, including $525,000 in punitive damages, in a federal court trial for fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of contract
Obtained a preliminary injunction that closed the business of a company misappropriating our client's trade secret product designs and business strategies
Obtained two preliminary injunctions drastically limiting a competitor's ability to raid our client's employees
Obtained partial summary judgment dismissing $32 million in claimed lost-profits damages
Served as bank counsel in receivership of $25 million agricultural operation.
Obtained an $800,000 American Arbitration Association award following a week-long hearing concerning fraud in the sale of a business
Successfully defended counterclaims for breach of fiduciary duty in a week-long jury trial; award of all attorneys' fees affirmed on appeal
Obtained defense verdict in premises liability jury trial involving seven-figure damages claims
HONORS
Recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in Commercial Litigation
Listed in 2011 edition of Best Lawyers in America in Commercial Litigation
Listed in Colorado Super Lawyers in Commercial Litigation
Selected for inclusion in the Corporate Counsel Black Book in Commercial Litigation
Listed in Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel in Commercial Litigation
Ranked AV Preeminent by peers under Martindale-Hubbell’s certification standards
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Member, Board of Directors of Faculty of Federal Advocates, 2007 - 2009
President, Dartmouth Lawyers' Association, 2004-2006; Board member, 2006-present
Member, American Bar Association, Litigation Section
Member, Colorado Bar Association
PUBLICATIONS AND SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
CLE presenter, 2008 Colorado Employment Law Conference on Covenants Not to Compete
Chapter Update, Noncompetition Agreements and Trade Secret Protection, CBA Practitioner’s Guide to Colorado Employment Law, 2008, 2009
CLE presenter, “Protecting Your Company from Departing Employees,” August 2004
Author, “The Burden of Proving Misuse in Products Liability Actions,” 20 Colorado Lawyer 2307 (1991)
EDUCATION
University of Virginia J.D. 1985
- Member, Editorial Board, Virginia Law Review
Dartmouth College B.A. 1981
- magna cum laude
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