Christopher R. Pennison

Christopher Pennison joined the firm in 1999 and became a partner in 2002. The focus of his practice is insurance coverage and coverage litigation involving general liability insurance, marine insurance, oil pollution insurance, umbrella and excess insurance, commercial property insurance, and homeowners insurance. He has significant experience in complex insurance coverage litigation, class action litigation, False Claims Act or qui tam matters, and federal claims litigation, as well as automobile liability and insurance coverage litigation, trucking and transportation litigation, and environmental and toxic torts.

Mr. Pennison has handled numerous cases involving complex insurance coverage and declaratory judgment actions, insurance bad faith, insurance class actions, personal injury and death, property damage, and fire litigation. He has handled numerous asbestos, silica, noise-induced hearing loss, benzene and lead exposure, and other long-term exposure latent disease claims from an insurance coverage standpoint. He has significant experience negotiating and litigating claims involving multiple triggered insurance policies and complex allocation issues. He has handled litigation under the National Flood Insurance Program and federal contracts between the U.S. Government and Write-Your-Own flood insurers. He has also handled several oilfield remediation cases from an insurance coverage standpoint. He has defended insurers in mass joinder and class action litigation involving homeowners’ claims arising out of major hurricanes. His class action litigation experience also includes toxic torts from both a defense and insurance coverage perspective. He has significant experience litigating complex multi-party lawsuits.

Mr. Pennison graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans in 1990. He then graduated from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in 1993, where he served as the Chief Justice of the Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity. Before joining the firm, he practiced law in Arizona, where he focused on insurance defense litigation.

Admitted Courts
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
U.S. Court of Federal Claims
U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
U.S. District Court, Western District of Arkansas
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
U.S. District Court, Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana
U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
U.S. Judicial Panel of Multi-District Litigation
Arizona State Courts
Louisiana State Courts
New York State Courts

Organizations
Louisiana State Bar Association; State Bar of Arizona; American Bar Association; Federal Bar Association; New Orleans Bar Association; Defense Research Institute; Bar Association of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals