Experience. Reputation. Results.

Attorney Christopher G. Dunnells

Practice Areas

  • Insurance Defense
  • Trucking Defense
  • Personal Injury
  • Transportation Law
  • Commercial Trucking
  • Premises Liability
  • Professional Malpractice
  • Professional E&O (Architects, Engineers, Realtors, Brokers)
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Business Law
  • Labor and Employment
Martindale-Hubbell | AV Preeminent | Peer Rated for Highest Level of Professional Excellence | Since 2020
Rated By Super Lawyers
Best Lawyers
TIDA | Trucking Industry Defense Association
The Gavel | Your Claims Defense Network

Biography

Christopher G. Dunnells is admitted to practice law before all state and federal courts in Mississippi as well as the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Sixth Circuit, Eleventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. 

His practice focuses on trucking defense, transportation law, premises liability, personal injury defense, and appellate practice. He is available 24 hours a day for trucking accident rapid responses across the state of Mississippi. 

Christopher was a Centennial Scholar and member of the Ina E. Gordy Honors College at Mississippi University for Women, where he double majored in Psychology and Legal Studies. He later received his Juris Doctorate and Master of Business Administration from Mississippi College. He has received a specialization in "Negotiation, Mediation, and Conflict Resolution" from Essec Business School and is a graduate of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, where he ultimately obtained the designation of "NITA Advocate.” He currently serves as an adjunct professor at Mississippi College School of Law and as a contributing editor for the Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law published by Thomson Reuters. 

Christopher is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and is board-certified by the National Board of Trial Advocates. He has been named a "Rising Star" in Transportation Law, Personal Injury Defense, and Employment Law by Mid-South Super Lawyers and named in "Ones to Watch" by Best Lawyers in America® in Transportation Law and Personal Injury Defense. He has been named a Top 40 Under 40 by the Mississippi Business Journal, Top 35 Under 35 by RISE Professionals, and Phenom Under 40 by the Claims Litigation Management Alliance.

Christopher is a member of the Charles Clark American Inn of Courts, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and Pro Football Writers of America, among others. He has held leadership positions in multiple defense-oriented organizations, including the Defense Research Institute and the Trucking Industry Defense Association, and he serves on the board of directors for the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association. He coaches numerous moot court teams for Mississippi College School of Law, and he received the Daniel E. Ruhl '04 Memorial Award in 2021, awarded to "an attorney competition coach who not only selflessly mentors and trains student competitors to be formidable and exemplary advocates, but who also teaches students by example what it means to be an exceptional, well-regarded, and well-respected lawyer." 

He is a graduate of the Mississippi Bar’s Leadership Program and currently serves as an attorney volunteer for the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services.

He lives in Madison, Mississippi with his wife, Caylan, and their two children.

Bar Admissions

  • Mississippi
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of Mississippi
  • U.S. District Court Southern District of Mississippi
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit
  • U.S. Tax Court
  • U.S. Supreme Court

Education

  • Mississippi College School of Law, Jackson, Mississippi
    • J.D. - 05/2014
    • Honors: cum laude
    • Honors: National Appellate Advocacy Competition Team
    • Honors: Finalist, Closing Argument Competition
    • Honors: Best Advocate, Internal Trial Competition
  • Mississippi College, Clinton, Mississippi
    • M.B.A. - 05/2015
    • Honors: cum laude
  • Mississippi University for Women, Columbus, Mississippi
    • B.A. - 05/2011
    • Honors: cum laude
    • Honors: Ina E. Gordy Honors College
    • Honors: Centennial Scholar
    • Major: Psychology
    • Major: Legal Studies

Professional Associations

  • Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association - Board of Directors
  • Claims Litigation Management Alliance - Transportation Committee Co-Chair
  • Trucking Insurance Defense Association - Interactive Education Committee
  • Defense Research Institute - Transportation Committee Young Lawyer Laision
  • Charles Clark American Inn of Courts
  • National Asian Pacific American Bar Association - Litigation Committee
  • Transportation Lawyers Association
  • Capital Area Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
  • Mississippi Bar Association - Litigation Section
  • National Sports Media Association
  • Pro Football Writers of America

Published Works

  • Telematics: A Sword and a Shield, CLM The Magazine, CLM, October 2023
  • The hidden pitfalls of the FMCSA’s 18-20-year-old pilot program and how to navigate them, The Transportation Lawyer, TLA, October 2022
  • Knockout Negotiating, CLM The Magazine, CLM, June 2022
  • The Magic of “That’s Right,” CLM The Magazine, CLM, February 2022
  • How to Address the CDL Manual in a Trucking Case, For the Defense, DRI, February 2022
  • Anchors Away: Using Psychological Biases as a Tool in Negotiations, MDLA Quarterly, MDLA, Winter 2021
  • Combating the use of the CDL manual and federal safety regulations in litigation, American College of Transportation Attorneys, April 2021
  • Fifth Circuit rejects “fairly lenient” conditional certification standard in FLSA claims, The Transportation Lawyer, TLA, April 2021
  • Risk Mitigation: Limiting Exposure to Sleeper Berth Claims Under the FLSA, The Transportation Lawyer, TLA, February 2020

Representative Cases

  • Coakley v. Cole, 2022 WL 2911660 (S.D. Miss. 2022)
  • Rose v. GEICO Cas. Co., 2022 WL 1438551 (S.D. Miss. 2022)
  • Swales et al. v. KLLM Transport Services, LLC, 985 F.3d 430 (5th Cir. 2021)
  • Holland v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc., 290 So. 3d 1253 (Miss. 2020)
  • Swales et al. v. KLLM Transport Services, LLC, 410 F. Supp. 3d 786 (S.D. Miss. 2019)
  • Rasdon v. E 3 Trucking, Inc., 2019 WL 4346576 (N.D. Miss. 2019)
  • Evans v. Roger’s Trucking, Inc., 2019 WL 5295198 (S.D. Miss. 2019)
  • Knoth v. Apollo Endosurgery, Inc., 425 F. Supp. 3d 678 (S.D. Miss. 2019)

Classes & Seminars

  • The Rule Against Hearsay (and its Exceptions), National Business Institute” April 2023
  • “The Art of Fair, Unbiased, and Equitable Claims Negotiation” Workshop, CLM Annual Conference, March 2023
  • “30(b)(6) Deposition Workshop (attorney coach), TIDA Skills” Seminar, March 2023
  • “Legal Ethics of Social Media and ESI in Mississippi,” National Business Institute, July 2022
  • “What to do once you get assigned a trucking file” (On Demand), LawPracticeCLE, July 2022
  • Defending Truck Cases: De-Weaponizing the CDL Manual and Challenging Adverse Testimony,” Strafford Publications, May 2022

Pro-Bono Activities

  • Back Bay Mission - Advisory Board, the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project