Christopher A. Lisy

Profile

Christopher Lisy has nearly two decades of litigation and trial experience in the technology and financial services sectors. He has represented companies in some of their largest “bet the company” trials, including:

Successfully defending one of the world’s largest asset managers in a trial in the District of New Jersey, defeating a $1.55 billion excessive fee claim brought under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act. The case is one of the largest ever brought against the mutual fund industry and is the first trial decision on the “subadvisory” or “reverse manager of managers” theory.
Obtaining a $500 million jury verdict in a case involving “virtual reality” intellectual property in the Northern District of Texas on behalf of a video game company against the subsidiary of a global media conglomerate and its executives for copyright infringement, breach of contract and false designation. The verdict is among the largest ever awarded for copyright, trademark and/or trade secret claims.
Obtaining a multimillion-dollar jury verdict, damages award and permanent injunction for copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation on behalf of a technology company in the Southern District of Texas.

In the technology sector, Chris regularly litigates data theft, trade secret and non-compete issues in Massachusetts state courts and federal courts. He has obtained numerous preliminary and permanent injunctions for his clients, including in “employee raiding” cases, and has successfully defended against such injunctions. Chris has litigated matters relating to proprietary computer source code and open source code (including HLASM, C++ and C#), 3D gaming and “first-person” games, and commercial software products in the storage, database, replication, and planning and scheduling areas.

Chris also represents some of the largest global financial services, insurance and reinsurance firms—and their directors, executives and officers—in investigations and disputes, including class actions and shareholder derivative proceedings for securities fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty claims. Chris has particular experience in disputes involving “cost of insurance” charges. He also represents clients in a broad range of investigations and enforcement actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice and state regulatory agencies regarding insider trading, disclosure, internal controls and sales practices issues, among other areas.

As part of his practice, Chris advises companies involved in mergers and acquisitions, providing counsel on litigation risk, indemnification arrangements and other issues.

Publications

Co-authored, “Considerations in Machine Learning–Led Programmatic Underwriting,” Rail The Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law, Volume 4, No. 4, May 2021.

Co-author, “SJC: volunteer directors enjoy immunity from suit,” Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, March 5, 2020.

Co-author, “Mending the Wall: A Call for a Presumption of Privacy in the Federal Civil Rules,” Litigation—American Bar Association, Vol. 41, No. 1, Fall 2014.

Co-author, “Good Clean Fun: Using Clean Room Procedures in Intellectual Property Litigation,” Intellectual Property and Technology Journal, Vol. 25, No. 10, October 2013.

05.04.20

Manatt Expands Insurance Offerings With New Practice

Manatt has expanded and formalized its insurance practice, which comprises a multidisciplinary team of professionals with significant ...
03.18.20

Manatt Welcomes Prominent Cybersecurity Thought Leader to Growing ...

Kevin Powers brings extensive policy and legal expertise to firm’s expanding privacy and data security practice Manatt, Phelps & ...
02.06.20

Manatt Adds Duo of Elite Patent Litigators to National Technology & ...

Experienced trial lawyer Amar Thakur and patent litigator Bruce Zisser a boon for firm’s leading litigation team and digital and technology ...
10.07.19

Manatt Continues Boston Growth With Technology Litigation Partner

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, a multidisciplinary, integrated professional services firm, announced today that Christopher Lisy has joined ...

02.27.20

INSIGHT: Figuring Out if You Are ‘Doing Business’ in California Under ...

Manatt privacy and data security partner Christopher Lisy and special counsel Matthew Stein authored an article for Bloomberg Law on the ...

02.09.21

Considerations in Machine Learning-Led Programmatic Underwriting

Underwriting is critical to insurance profits: Identify, qualify, and quantify the risk that an insurance policy covers and set the premiums across a ...
10.07.20

Not So Powerful: When a Compensatory Damages Award Becomes an ...

Insurance coverage often turns on strange questions. The Eleventh Circuit’s decision this summer in AEGIS Electric & Gas International ...
04.20.20

Life Insurers Face Increased Litigation Risk Due to COVID-19 ...

The COVID-19 situation is affecting all businesses, and insurance companies are no exception.

Christopher A. Lisy

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