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Mississippi
Tennessee
United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi
United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
United States Tax Court
United States Supreme Court
Mississippi College School of Law
(JD., cum laude, 2014)
Mississippi College School of Business
(MBA, cum laude, 2015)
Mississippi University for Women
(B.A., cum laude, 2011)
Christopher G. Dunnells is a partner in Chartwell Law’s Mississippi office. He focuses his practice on trucking defense, transportation law, premises liability, personal injury defense, and appellate practice. He’s available 24 hours a day for trucking accident rapid responses across Mississippi.
Christopher brings extensive leadership experience in various state and national defense organizations to the firm. He is a frequent speaker and writer, sharing his expertise on trial strategies, claims file management, early resolution tactics, claims negotiation, and transportation law trends. Christopher graduated from the National Institute of Trial Advocacy with the esteemed "Advocate" designation and holds a certificate in "Negotiation, Mediation, and Conflict Resolution" from ESSEC Business School. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Mississippi College School of Law and contributes to the Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law by Thomson Reuters.
Outside the office, Christopher is dedicated to giving back. He volunteers with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services, Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project, and the American Mock Trial Association. He also coaches youth soccer for Madison Futbol Club and numerous moot court teams at Mississippi College School of Law. In 2021, he was honored with the Daniel E. Ruhl ‘04 Memorial Award for his exceptional mentorship and training of student competitors.
Christopher lives in Madison, Mississippi, with his wife, Caylan, and their two children.
Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association: Secretary-Treasurer (2025 to present); Board of Directors (2023 to 2024); Amicus Curae Chair (2024 to present)
Claims Litigation Management Alliance: Transportation Committee Co-Chair (2023 to 2024); Transportation Committee Webinar Chair (2025 to present)
Trucking Industry Defense Association: Webinar Committee Chair (2023 to present); IDEA Committee (2023 to present); Awards Committee (2024 to present); Annual Planning Committee (2024 to present); Newsletter Co-Editor (2024 to present)
ClaimsXchange: Claims Academy Transportation Faculty (2025 to present)
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: 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
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 (2023 to present)
“Civil Procedure – Personal Jurisdiction 101,” MDLA Quarterly, MDLA Summer 2024
“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
Get the Most Out of Your Negotiation, Trucking Industry Defense Association, May 2025
Add More Brushes to Your Claims Management Canvas, Claims Litigation Management Alliance Annual Conference, April 2025
Spotting Lien-Based Treatment and Inflated Medical Bills, Insurance Fraud Management Conference, March 2025
A Millennial’s Guide to the World Wide Web of Discoverable Information, Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, November 2024
Legal Frontlines – Decoding the Litigation Tactics Against Motor Carriers, Higginbotham REFUEL Trucking Leadership Conference, November 2024
Navigating the Complex Lanes: Mastering Independent Contractor Claims in Transportation, ClaimsXchange Education on Location, July 2024
Phenoms Unleashed, Claims Litigation Management Alliance Annual Conference, April 2024
Ethical Duties to Opposing Counsel, Mississippi Bar – Bridge the Gap, September 2023
Artificial Intelligence in the Trucking Industry, Trucking Industry Defense Association, August 2023
Tips for Winning Discovery Disputes Involving ESI, Defense Research Institute, July 2023
The Rule Against Hearsay (and its Exceptions), National Business Institute, April 2023
The Art of Fair, Unbiased, and Equitable Claims Negotiation Workshop, Claims Litigation Management Alliance Annual Conference, March 2023 & April 2024
30(b)(6) Deposition Workshop, Trucking Industry Defense Association 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, LawPracticeCLE, July 2022
Defending Truck Cases: De-Weaponizing the CDL Manual and Challenging Adverse Testimony, Strafford Publications, May 2022
