Lawyer Bio : Christopher J. Geis

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Christopher J. Geis

"Chris"

Winston-Salem

Chris concentrates his civil-litigation practice on the defense of local governments and public officials, especially law enforcement officers, at the trial and appellate levels. In addition, Chris holds the rank of Commander in the United States Navy Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps and has extensive experience in criminal defense and military operational law, with two deployments to the Persian Gulf since 2001.
 
Chris was a summer associate for Womble Carlyle in 1997 while he was in law school. He returned to the firm in 2003 after four and a half years on active duty as a judge advocate in the United States Navy. Since then he has successfully represented numerous cities, counties, and public officials in civil tort litigation in both state and federal courts, including in cases involving wrongful death, excessive force, search and seizure, and other personal injury. He also has experience in product liability defense, business litigation, and insurance defense. In 2004, he represented on a pro bono basis a woman whose two children were killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
 
Before attending law school, Chris was a newspaper reporter and editor. In 2010, he won the North Carolina State Bar Association’s award for fiction writing and had a short story published in the North Carolina Bar Journal. In recent years, he has written opinion pieces for the editorial pages of the Winston-Salem Journal.

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Professional Activities

Admitted to North Carolina Bar, 1998. Member of Forsyth County Bar.
 
Admitted to all State Courts in North Carolina. Also admitted to United States Districts Courts for Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of North Carolina and United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. 
 
Admitted to United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, United States Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, and all United States Armed Forces courts-martial.

Education

B.A., History, 1988, Western Carolina University, Phi Alpha Theta and Pi Gamma Mu honor societies, Dean’s List; J.D., 1998, Wake Forest University School of Law, cum laude; Order of Coif; Dean’s Scholastic Honors List; Wake Forest Law Review and Wake Forest Moot Court Board, 1996-1998.

Prior Legal Experience

Summer Associate, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 1997; Summer Associate, Wyatt Early Harris & Wheeler, High Point, North Carolina, 1996.

Prior Business Experience

Reporter/editor, Winston-Salem Journal, 1988-1991 and 1993; High Point Enterprise, 1994-1995. Won award for investigative reporting from the North Carolina Press Association in 1994.
 
Press Secretary, North Carolina Democratic Party, Raleigh, North Carolina, 1992-1993.
 
Testified before U.S. House Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights, 1993, on Shaw v. Reno and effect of race in political redistricting.

Publications

Additional Information

Military Experience
 
Officer in the United States Navy and Navy Reserve
  • Criminal defense and legal assistance attorney, Naval Legal Service Office Southwest, San Diego, 1999-2001 and 2002-03.
  • Staff Judge Advocate, Amphibious Squadron 3, embarked in USS Bonhomme Richard, 2001-02. Deployed to Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
  • Legal assistance and claims attorney, Naval Reserve Legal Service Office Midlant, Norfolk, Va., 2003-06.
  • Mobilized to active duty and deployed to Kuwait as Staff Judge Advocate, Naval Expeditionary Logistics Support Group (Forward), in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, 2006.
  • Operational Law Advisor, 2d Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp LeJeune, N.C., 2007-2010.
  • Defense Counsel, Navy-Marine Corps Appellate Review Activity, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., 2011 to present.