Chris Massenburg is a partner based in MG+M’s New York and New Orleans offices. His practice primarily focuses on environmental, toxic tort, products liability, commercial trucking and transportation, premises liability, and construction defects litigation. Chris has tried cases in Louisiana, California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Alabama, Texas, Illinois, Iowa, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Delaware, Washington, Wyoming, West Virginia, Oregon and Utah. He has defended his clients in numerous cases as lead trial counsel, and has secured multiple zero-dollar defense verdicts by successfully showing juries that his clients did not do anything wrong.
Licensed to practice law in Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania, Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee, Chris earned his J.D. in 2000 from Tulane University Law School, and also achieved a certification in maritime law. Chris has served on the Trial Advocacy faculty of both Tulane and LSU law schools, is a current faculty member of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), a member of ABOTA, and board certified in both Civil Law Trial and Civil Practice Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Chris is AV® Peer and Client Review-Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and has been repeatedly recognized by both Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America. Chris has also been recognized multiple times by New Orleans CityBusiness with their “Leadership in Law” Award (2019-2020, 2023).
Client and Jury Comments
Representative Samples of MG+M Clients' Comments:
- "We use lawyers from over 50 law firms—some of the best litigators across the country. The MG+M law firm stands out. Chris stands out. He is exceptional. He’s not a litigator—he’s a trial lawyer. Chris’s skillset is therefore different than 99% of the lawyers we see, because he can actually take a case to trial (and win). He’s an exceptionally gifted and talented advocate who combines high performance with high integrity and wise advice. We have and will continue to entrust Chris with our biggest and most important matters."
- "Chris is extremely knowledgeable and thoroughly prepared. As a client I felt he explained things well and clearly and was very helpful making sure I understood what was expected of me and others. He related well to the jury who liked him and paid attention to him. He was highly effective at asking questions during cross examination and eliciting answers which resonated with the jury in a very favorable and memorable way for our case. He and his team were a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend him."
- "Chris is a top-notch litigator that puts client service before all else. He anticipates the client's needs and consistently exceeds expectations in his results."
- "Chris is an absolutely stellar litigator. He is practical, focused and very cost effective. I recommend him without hesitation."
- "Chris provided excellent service and achieved a favorable resolution to the case we hired him on. I would absolutely hire him again and I can't recommend him highly enough."
- “Chris is an extremely effective litigator and has a well-deserved reputation as one of the top asbestos defense trial attorneys in the country. I would recommend him to try a case for anyone in the asbestos field.”
Representative Samples of Jurors' Post-Trial Comments:
- "He was really strong. Obviously he did his research. The more you learned about the case ... I assumed he is a specialist when it comes to these kinds of cases. He was better at cross examination than the [opposing counsel]."
- "He’s a 10. I remember Chris. He was another fireball. Our nickname for him was Tom Cruise."
- "Tom Cruise is a 10. Very impressive. He basically said that his company didn’t have really anything to do with this. He was kind of like, ‘Why am I here?’ and he was actually good enough to make me ask that question: why were they?"
- "He was great. I could connect with the way in which he explained things. I liked that he was not rude like [opposing counsel] when questioning witnesses. He got his point across and was respectful. One thing that he did, which I liked, was that he would say, 'So you’re telling me this means ...' like he was summarizing the point that he was trying to get across. I liked the way he approached questioning the witnesses."
- "The main defense lawyer [Mr. Massenburg] was good. He was able to keep the same temperament and demeanor throughout the trial, regardless of what was said. He was the strongest."
- “Chris Massenburg! I’ll never forget that name as long as I live... We called him 'The Ripper,' because he ripped 'em up!"
- "He had Southern charisma and was a good talker. He seemed like he had a sarcastic, skeptical manner to him. He was very no-nonsense, but also likeable."
- "He was ruthless, but not in a bad way. It was almost like watching TV when the two main attorneys were against each other. Mr. Massenburg never stepped down. He shocked a lot of us and was a ruthless type of attorney but it worked. He was really knowledgeable."
- "The limelight was on Mr. Massenburg out of all of the defense attorneys. He was very impressive and knowledgeable. I give him credit for defending his client to the hilt."
- "Chris was marvelous and his team ran like a well-oiled machine."
- "He was affable, personable, and genuine... With my background, I appreciated that he relied heavily on the science in his presentation."
- “He was very effective, very spot on with his arguments and defense. He was polite and respectful, and he made good points on cross-examination. He was easy to listen to, and charismatic. He has some flair in the courtroom. Some of these other lawyers drone on, and sometimes it is an effort to pay attention. I would give him a 10. He was very good.”
- “I think Mr. Massenburg did a fantastic job. He used lots of visuals. He had a giant board he pulled out... it was effective. He was probably the strongest defense attorney... 9.5.”
- “I really liked Massenburg... very likable and effective. 10.”
- “Massenburg was great. We had a break, and I commented to the others; I would like to go out for a beer with this guy. He was a guy you felt you could listen to.”
- “Massenburg was the best.”
- “I was really impressed with Chris Massenburg . . . I would sum it up as you can tell that he takes his job very seriously and he is very good at it, but he also enjoys what he does. I think he came off as more genuine than the plaintiff attorneys I guess, and that navigating that situation where he's obviously got to be empathetic to this family that's sitting there. Well, it's a tough job, and I think he threaded that needle extremely well of enjoying what he is doing while being respectful and yet, doing his job and doing it well.”
