Christopher Strunk is a Partner resident in GRSM’s San Francisco office with more than 25 years of experience litigating complex Environmental and Toxic Tort disputes and serves as a co-leader of GRSM’s national Cannabis, Hemp & CBD National Practice Group.
He focuses primarily on the defense of large, multi-party matters, including environmental, mass tort and products liability litigation involving alleged toxic injury and site contamination arising from asbestos, talc, polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), polychlorinated biphenyls (“PCB’s”), lead, mold, and other contaminants. He represents multinational luxury goods companies, Fortune 500 consumer products companies, joint compound manufacturers and fiber suppliers, microchip and technology companies, chemical and petrochemical companies, heavy equipment manufacturers, large general contractors and environmental remediation companies, and the pesticide and fertilizer industry.
Christopher has earned a Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent peer review rating in toxic torts, litigation and products liability each year from 2011 to the present.
Asbestos & Toxic Tort
Christopher has specialized in asbestos and toxic tort litigation throughout his entire career. He has defended well over a thousand cases from filing through final resolution in both state and federal court, and has coordinated dozens of cases for individual clients as both lead local counsel and national coordinating counsel roles. Currently, Christopher and his team spearheads the defense of California-wide litigation for three major international companies for their talc-related asbestos liabilities.
He enjoys the challenge of developing creative, “out of the box” approaches to complex issues in order to obtain the best result possible for his clients, whether that means a reduced settlement, winning a dispositive motion, or obtaining a defense verdict. Most critically, he has learned how to effectively work with both sides of the “v” to accomplish his clients’ objectives in the most advantageous and cost effective manner, and presently serves on multiple committees in both Northern and Southern California dedicated to revising local rules and promoting litigation efficiencies in mass tort litigation.
Environmental
Christopher has extensive knowledge of relevant state and federal environmental statutes, with considerable experience in CERCLA and RCRA claims. He has also successfully defended numerous nuisance and trespass cases arising out of alleged site contamination, and aggressively defends clients in administrative enforcement actions arising out of alleged violations of state law and local ordinances.
Commercial Litigation
Christopher also has a wealth of experience in commercial litigation. He has successfully represented single-member LLC’s, partnerships and large corporations in multi-million dollar lawsuits involving breach of contract claims, business torts including interference with contract and business relationships, trademark infringement, and unfair business practices under California’s Business & Professions Code § 17200. He recently obtained a $2,000,000 judgment in a breach of contract/unfair business practices case for a large corporate client.
Regulatory
Recognizing that the best defense in a lawsuit is avoiding one in the first place, Christopher counsels clients on compliance with state and federal environmental statutes and assists clients in drafting product warnings and other liability-limiting documents in order to proactively limit downstream litigation risks. He also has experience developing internal policies and procedures for his clients to address environmental risks, including responding to the airborne or water-borne releases of contaminants. Finally, Christopher assists clients in managing environmental incidents and their aftermath, including appropriate response and reporting, managing health and safety issues, and working with regulators to address remediation issues.
Cannabis
Christopher has represented clients in the industrial hemp and cannabis sector since 2014, assisting companies in complying with state environmental laws, managing downstream risk, and defending them in high-stakes product liability litigation. Christopher is nationally recognized for his work on the environmental issues facing the cannabis industry, including litigation risks, state regulations, and agency enforcement. He has previously served as vice chair of programming for the American Bar Association’s TIPS Cannabis Law Committee, and has served on the Defense Research Institute’s Cannabis Law Conference Committee for the past 6 years. He co-authored one of the first law review articles every published on environmental issues in cannabis, and his nationally-published work has been featured in the Defense Research Institute’s The Voice and in the American Bar Association Environmental Law Section's The Year in Review 2018. In 2018, DataBird Research Journal named Chris one of “250 Cannabis Law Experts.” In addition, he is a member of the National Cannabis Bar Association and the San Francisco Bar Association’s Cannabis Law Section.
Admissions
- California
- Illinois
- Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Courts, Northern & Central Districts of California
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois