Christopher G. Dunnells is a partner in Chartwell’s Mississippi office and one of Mississippi’s leading trucking and transportation defense attorneys. His practice includes trucking and transportation litigation, premises liability, personal injury defense, and appellate advocacy. He is available 24/7 to assist with rapid-response needs following catastrophic trucking accidents across Mississippi and Tennessee.

Christopher is an active leader in the transportation defense community. He holds senior and board-level positions within several national and state organizations, including the Trucking Industry Defense Association, the Claims Litigation Management Alliance, the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, and the Defense Research Institute. He has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star and by Best Lawyers as One to Watch in Transportation Law and Personal Injury Defense. His additional professional honors include recognition from the Mississippi Business Journal, Rising Insurance Star Executives, the Claims Litigation Management Alliance, and the Trucking Industry Defense Association.

Christopher serves as an adjunct professor at Mississippi College School of Law and as a contributing editor to the Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law, published by Thomson Reuters. He frequently writes and presents on trial strategy, claims negotiation, and emerging transportation law trends. He is a graduate of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, earning the “Advocate” designation, and also holds a certificate in Negotiation, Mediation, and Conflict Resolution from ESSEC Business School.

Outside the practice of law, Christopher volunteers with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services, the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project, and several youth sports organizations. He also mentors moot court teams at Mississippi College School of Law, where he received the Daniel E. Ruhl ’04 Memorial Award for outstanding mentorship.

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

Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association: President-Elect (2026 to present); Secretary-Treasurer (2025-2026); Board of Directors (2023-2024); Amicus Curae Chair (2024 to present)

Claims Litigation Management Alliance: Transportation Committee Co-Leader (2023 to present); Transportation Committee Webinar Chair (2025 to present)

Trucking Industry Defense Association: Board of Directors (2025 to present); Webinar Committee Chair (2023-2025); IDEA Committee (2023-2025); Awards Committee (2024); Annual Planning Committee (2024-2025); Newsletter Co-Editor (2024-2025)

ClaimsXchange: Claims Academy Transportation Co-Provost (2026 to present); Claims Academy Transportation Faculty (2025)

Defense Research Institute: Transportation Committee Young Lawyer Liaison (2022-2023); Young Lawyers Committee Steering Committee (2022-2023); Transportation Committee (2022 to present)

Trucking Defense Advisory Counsel

National Asian Pacific American Bar Association

Transportation Lawyers Association

American Bar Association

Mississippi Bar Association: Annual Summer School Programming Committee (2026 to present); Litigation Committee (2015 to present); ADR Committee (2015 to present)

Charles Clark American Inn of Courts: Associate (2022-2023); Barrister (2024 to present)

Mississippi Trucking Association

National Order of Barristers

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Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review AV®-Rating

Mississippi College School of Law, Adjunct Professor of the Year, 2025

Trucking Industry Defense Association, Emerging Leader, 2024

Board Certified in Civil Practice by National Board of Trial Advocates, 2023

Mississippi Business Journal, Top 40 Under 40, 2023

RISE Professionals, Top 35 Under 35, 2023

Claims Litigation Management Alliance, Phenom Under 40, 2023

Mississippi Bar Leadership Forum Graduate, 2023

Selected to Mid-South Super Lawyers®: Rising Star - Transportation Law | Personal Injury Defense | Employment Law (2022 to present)

Named to Best Lawyers in America®: “Ones to Watch" - Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants | Transportation Law (202-2025)

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"Collateral Estoppel/Res Judicata” (Ch. 14), Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law, Thomson Reuters

“Contempt of Court” (Ch. 20), Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law, Thomson Reuters

“Joint and Several Liability” (Ch. 42), Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law, Thomson Reuters

“Why Trucking Defense Must Adapt for Gen Z,” Forbes Magazine, Forbes, August 2025

“Priority of Jurisdiction and Snap-Removal,” MDLA Quarterly, MDLA, Fall 2023

“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

“Scorched-Earth Scenarios,” CLM The Magazine, CLM, May 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

“The Challenge of Implementing Class Waiver Agreements where there is a Pending Class or Collective Action,” Covered Events, DRI, September 2018

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