Vermont trial lawyer Chris Maley has extensive experience in the practice areas of personal injury and medical malpractice. Chris represents individuals who have been seriously injured and the families of those who have been killed in accidents or due to medical malpractice.
A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Chris has earned the recognition of his peers, receiving Martindale Hubbell’s highest attorney rating of AV Preeminent®, and is listed annually in the publication The Best Lawyers in America® since 2007 in the categories of Medical Malpractice Law and Personal Injury Litigation.
Most recently, Best Lawyers® has named Chris:
He is the only plaintiff lawyer in Vermont to receive this distinction for medical malpractice law.
He has earned the additional distinction of being the only Vermont plaintiff attorney selected by Best Lawyers as the:
Chris has also been elected to be a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. The Fellows is an honorary organization of attorneys, judges, law faculty, and legal scholars who have been elected by their peers to become members of The Fellows. They have demonstrated outstanding achievements and dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession. Membership in The Fellows is limited to one percent of the lawyers admitted to practice in each jurisdiction of the United States. Additionally, New England Super Lawyers® magazine lists Chris as a top-rated medical malpractice attorney in its most recent edition.
Verdicts and Settlements
Chris has obtained recoveries in excess of 1 million dollars in Vermont cases 14 times.
Some of his significant verdicts and settlements include:
- Resolved a medical malpractice case involving the alleged failure to appropriately diagnose and treat a 42-year-old woman’s severe lower extremity injury resulting in catastrophic harm for in excess of three and a half million dollars.
- $2,925,000 settlement during trial – motor vehicle accident claim.
- $2,375,000 settlement – medical malpractice lawsuit involving the negligent delay in diagnosis of prostate cancer.
- $1,800,000 settlement – wrongful death motor vehicle accident claim.
- $800,000 jury verdict – wrongful death medical malpractice case involving the failure to monitor a patient on Coumadin. The patient had a very short life expectancy and losses were solely for loss of love and companionship of the family.
- Resolved a playground accident injury claim on behalf of a nine year old girl against a municipality for $800,000.
Medical Malpractice
Chris has participated in trials, arbitrations and mediations arising out of medical malpractice claims against physicians, nurses and hospitals. He has litigated dozens of cases involving medical negligence during pregnancy and delivery resulting in birth injuries. Chris has handled medical malpractice cases involving:
- Birth trauma
- Medication errors
- Shoulder dystocia
- Cerebral palsy
- Compartment syndrome
- Failure to diagnose prostate, lung, breast, cervical, testicular and other cancers
- Failure to diagnose stroke, heart attack and other conditions.
- Overdoses
- Failure to monitor patients on medications
- Misinterpretation of x-rays, MRIs, CTs, mammograms and other radiologic studies
- Experimental medicine complications
- Surgical mistakes
- Misdiagnoses
- Emergency room errors.
Personal Injury
Chris’s personal injury practice involves representing those injured or the families of those killed in car and trucking accidents. He also represents those harmed due to defective and unreasonably dangerous drugs or other products.
Leadership and Advocacy
Chris is regularly invited to testify at the Statehouse in Montpelier on matters which impact Vermonters’ access to the civil justice system. As chair of the Legislative Committee of the Vermont Association of Justice, he has testified at every legislative session since 2011 and meets with legislators and stakeholders on matters involving the right to trial by jury. In 2012, Chris was honored for his work with the legislature with the Special Service Award by the Vermont Association for Justice for “outstanding and tireless dedication to Vermont’s civil justice system.”
Background
Chris was born in Burlington, Vermont. He graduated cum laude from St. Lawrence University in 1993 and Suffolk University Law School in 1996. At Suffolk, he was a recipient of an American Jurisprudence Award and was a member and an editor of the Transnational Law Review.
Chris was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1996 and practiced in Boston at the law firm of Martin, Magnuson, McCarthy & Kenney for six years primarily in the area of medical malpractice before being admitted to the Vermont Bar in 2002. Prior to founding Maley and Maley, Chris was a partner with Sylvester & Maley, Inc. in Burlington, Vermont.
Additional admissions include:
- Federal District Court – District of Massachusetts (1997)
- Federal District Court – District of Vermont (2003)
- Circuit Court of Appeals – First Circuit (1997)
- Circuit Court of Appeals – Second Circuit (2021)
- Court of Federal Claims (1997)
Professional Affiliations
- Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers, 2023
- President (2013-2014 term), Vermont Association for Justice (formerly Vermont Trial Lawyers Association)
- Chair, Legislative Committee, Vermont Association for Justice (VTAJ), 2011 to date
- Member, Executive Committee, VTAJ, 2015 to date
- 2012 recipient, Special Service Award, VTAJ
- Member, American Association for Justice (formerly Association of Trial Lawyers of America)
- Member, Vermont Bar Association
- Member, Massachusetts Bar Association
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation, 2015 to date