Chris Roach joined Adams and Reese in 2010 and is Special Counsel, practicing in the firm’s Tampa office.
Chris has been practicing as a trial lawyer since 2001, beginning his private practice in Texas, after serving a one year term as a law clerk to the Honorable Sidney A. Fitzwater of the United States District Court, Northern District of Texas. He concentrates his practice in civil, commercial, tort, and real property litigation.
His practice allows him to represent clients in a wide range of business litigation matters including breach of contract disputes, foreclosures and evictions, antitrust matters, qui tam cases, construction litigation, as well as white collar criminal defense. Chris also has experience representing manufacturers in products liability matters in state and federal courts. Chris also has represented parties in various transportation and casualty matters, including representing an overnight shipper in a contract dispute with a vendor, representing a primary insurer in claims arising from damage to cargo carried by a motor carrier, white collar criminal defense arising from violations of environmental laws by a merchant vessel, and representation of an aggrieved customer in a case involving the interstate transport and sale of a vessel.
Chris’s practice often brings him to the front lines of the national housing and credit crisis, representing lenders in commercial and residential foreclosure matters. In addition, he has defended national banks from Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA), claims arising from residential loans and revolving credit accounts, as well as cases involving wire transfer and check fraud.
His representative experience includes:
- Successfully represented lenders and special servicers in multiple commercial foreclosure matters involving retail and commercial properties.
- Achieved successful dismissal of spurious TILA claim on behalf of national bank.
- Advised major manufacturer on avoidance of antitrust risk in joint venture with competitor.
- Obtained compensation for major national telecommunications company in e-discovery dispute.
He is admitted to The Florida Bar, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, and the United States District Courts for the Southern, Northern, and Eastern Districts of Texas.
Chris earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 2000, where he received the Karl Llewellyn Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy and also was awarded the Bradley Fellowship in Law and Government. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Chicago in 1996, where he graduated with general and special honors.
In the community, Chris received an award for representing victims of domestic violence from the Are You Safe foundation and is a member of the Military Affairs Council of the Greater Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce.
Publications
- Residential Mortgage Foreclosure: Burdens of Proof, Real Defenses, Blind Alleys, and Recent Developments, Parts I and II, Orange County Bar Association, May and June 2010, Vol.'s 78 and 79, Issues No. 5 and No. 6 of The Briefs
- Avoiding Antitrust Risk When Settling Intellectual Property Litigation, 42nd Annual Conference on Intellectual Property Law, Center for American and International Law, Plano, Texas November 2004
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