When people see the headlines about billion-dollar verdicts, they often wonder who actually stood in front of that jury and asked for justice. At Hamilton Wingo, that person is often Chris Hamilton – one of our founding trial lawyers and the leader of our trial & litigation teams. Before he ever talks about numbers, though, Chris talks about people, causes, and what it means to fight for the underdog. That’s why we believe the best way to meet him is to hear from him directly.
From Cause Fighter To Courtroom Leader
In the video, Chris starts with a simple statement: “I’ve always been a cause fighter, and I’ve liked representing the underdog.” That line captures how he sees his work and how we see our mission as a firm. His journey began at the University of Texas at Austin, where he joined the criminal defense clinic and represented indigent defendants who could not afford a lawyer. He handled his first trial there, won, and realized that standing up in a courtroom was where he belonged.
After law school, he worked for the clinic director in private practice as a criminal defense lawyer. That experience showed him something important about himself. As he explains, “It wasn’t what I had gotten into being a lawyer for.” He wanted to do more for ordinary people who were facing powerful institutions, so he made a deliberate choice to change course.
Legal Aid, Ordinary People & Big Fights
That choice led him to Legal Aid, where he tried dozens of cases. Those early years shaped the way he practices law today. In his words, “I tried dozens of trials at Legal Aid. I got great experience, and I just really established that I loved representing ordinary people and trials against big companies, corporations, insurance companies.”
That love for the courtroom and for ordinary clients carried forward when he started his own firm. Chris set out to represent people who suffered serious injuries and families who lost loved ones, often in cases against some of the most powerful corporations and insurance companies in the world. As he puts it in the video, “What I wanted to do was to represent people who were seriously injured against corporations. It was just what I was meant to do.”
Why Chris Thrives In High-Stakes Trials
When Chris talks about trial work, you can hear why clients trust him with the biggest moments of their lives. He explains, “There is nothing that replicates for me the experience of fighting the biggest, most powerful corporations in the world in a courtroom and winning. Leveling the playing field for ordinary people in circumstances where normally they get steamrolled.”
That drive shows up in his record. As lead counsel, he has obtained over $8 billion in verdicts and settlements for clients in catastrophic personal injury cases, wrongful death lawsuits, and complex business disputes. In 2022, he led a wrongful death trial against a Fortune 100 company and secured a historic $7.3 billion jury verdict alleging negligent hiring and supervision – the 4th largest personal injury verdict against a corporation in U.S. history and the largest verdict nationwide that year. Over the past two decades, he has repeatedly won record-setting results against major corporations and insurers in cases other lawyers often view as too difficult or too complex.
How His Values Shape Our Firm
Chris does not approach trial work as a numbers game. One client summed up his approach by saying, “Chris had an emotional investment in the case. And it wasn’t an act.” He focuses every courtroom fight on what serves the client’s best interest, and he refuses to back down from a case he believes is a just and righteous cause. That mindset has become part of the culture at Hamilton Wingo.
He teaches our trial lawyers that we should represent every client the way we would represent our own family members, and that if we do that, everything else will take care of itself. That philosophy guides how we select cases, how we prepare for trial, and how we stand up to powerful opponents when the stakes could not be higher.
Recognition, Results & Real-World Impact
The same qualities you see in the video have led to national recognition. Over the years, Chris has won Texas’ largest personal injury verdict, one of the nation’s Top 100 verdicts, and some of the largest malpractice, dram shop, premises liability, and commercial awards in state and national rankings. His results include eight- and nine-figure verdicts and settlements in construction, trucking, wrongful death, medical malpractice, premises liability, commercial disputes, and a landmark federal False Claims Act settlement against a private equity firm.
His work has drawn attention from media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, USA Today, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, Fox News, CNN, Business Insider, Texas Lawyer, Dallas Business Journal, Law360, The Dallas Morning News, The Texas Lawbook, The Houston Chronicle, and The Austin-American Statesman. Other attorneys have repeatedly honored him in The Best Lawyers in Dallas by D Magazine, The Best Lawyers in America, Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, Texas Super Lawyers, and National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Attorneys, and he is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Teacher, Mentor & Voice For Justice
Chris does not keep his courtroom approach to himself. He has served as an adjunct professor of Trial Advocacy at SMU and has guest-lectured at law schools across Texas, sharing what he has learned from trying cases for real people. Inside Hamilton Wingo, he plays a central role in training our lawyers, sharpening the trial skills that our clients rely on when everything is on the line.
His commitment to justice extends beyond civil cases. In 2017, the American Association for Justice named him Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year for his work defending Constitutional rights. He also speaks fluent Spanish, which helps him connect more directly with many of the families we serve and ensures they can tell their story in their own language.
Gratitude, Trust & What Clients Can Expect
Toward the end of the video, Chris says, “I wake up every day and I feel grateful that I get to have a job that I absolutely love and that I get to represent people and that people trust us with the most important circumstances in their lives. And it’s a privilege.” That gratitude is real. It informs how we answer the phone, how we prepare a case, and how we stand beside clients through some of the hardest days they will ever face.
When you watch his story, you see more than a long list of verdicts and honors. You see a cause fighter who started at Legal Aid, built a career on representing ordinary people against powerful companies, and still treats every case as deeply personal. If you or someone you love faces a life-changing injury or wrongful death, and you need a trial team that believes in leveling the playing field, we invite you to watch the video and reach out to Hamilton Wingo at (214) 234-7911. Before you ever set foot in our office, you will already know the kind of lawyer leading the fight on your behalf.