Draft:L. Chis Stewart

= L. Chris Stewart =

L. Chris Stewart (Born December 9th, 1978) also known as “Mr. Billion-Dollar Justice”, is one of the most prominent African-American civil rights attorneys, and is regarded as one of Georgia’s top injury trial lawyers. His practice is focused on, auto/trucking collisions, wrongful death, and premises liability with a specialty in sexual assault. He is also the Managing Partner of Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys, a personal injury litigation law firm.

Early Life and education
L. Chris Stewart was born and raised in Southwest Atlanta, Georgia, Off Cascade Road. As a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated, Chris earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with honors from Xavier University. He also did a Master’s of Science in Public Health from Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in 2001 and worked at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.). In 2005, he earned a Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law.

Career
L. Chris Stewart formerly worked for the law firm of Morgan & Morgan where at the age of 29 he made partner.While at Morgan & Morgan, Chris represented over 2500 clients and has the Atlanta office's largest jury verdict. Chris has litigated cases in over twenty-five counties in Georgia and has taken over 1500 depositions. He was also selected to be one of the 16 lawyers to participate in the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association’s Leadership Education and Advanced Direction (LEAD) program. At the age of 42, he was a managing partner at Stewart, Seay & Felton Trial Attorneys, until the firm dissolved in 2018. He moved to a new office on Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard and worked on his own. In January 2020, he was joined by his partner Justin Miller; and in August 2020, they were joined by their third partner Madeleine Simmons. After which they change the firm name to ‘Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys’, and the new motto, “Family. Faith. Justice.”

Prominent Cases:

In 2014, he took Gregory Towns’ case, who was repeatedly tased while handcuffed by two East Point officers during his arrest. Both officers were convicted for murder. He collected East Point’s $1 million insurance policy limit for his client. He has also been the lead attorney for Walter Scott, the South Carolina man shot in the back and killed by a North Charleston police officer as he ran, Alton Sterling, the Baton Rouge man whose shooting death by police was captured on video, and Chase Sherman, who died after being tased multiple times by Coweta County Deputies. That case would lead to Walter Scott.

In 2015, he made North Charleston City Council approve an agreement to pay the Scott family $6.5 million.

In 2018, he fought for, then 14 years old victim, Hope Cheston.Because of his efforts jurors in Clayton County, Ga., awarded Cheston $1 billion in compensatory damages in a civil lawsuit against Crime Prevention Agency Inc., the security company that employed her rapist. He has also been one of the lawyers for the George Floyd case and was able to approve a $27 million settlement from the Minneapolis City Council, which he called “imparts a measure of justice”.

In 2020, he also served the family of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed in a hate crime earlier that year.

Chris gained national recognition after taking the Rayshard Brooks family case, in 2020.

In 2021, he was also the lead attorney for Albany resident Michael King, against the Dollar General Corporation and two employees for gross negligence and punitive damages.Same year, he was also hired by Catherine Khan's family.

Teaching:

Chris has taught a variety of legal education seminars for practicing attorneys including how to handle personal injury cases, trial demonstrations, advertising with social media, and how to manage your social media presence. He has also tutored at Perkerson Elementary School and is Co-Chair of “If you can see it, you can be it,” a program focused on motivating inner-city elementary school children to become lawyers. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Villages at Carver YMCA, as Regional Director for Region XI (Georgia, Florida & Alabama) of the National Bar Association, and as the 2011-2012 President of the Gate City Bar Association, Georgia’s largest and oldest African American Bar Association as well as being a 2014 Board Member of the Southern Center for Human Rights.

Television:

In 2020, he agreed to work with eOne (Entertainment One) to develop docuseries titled, “Burden of Justice”. The series aligns with his expertise as it will chronicle his pursuit of Justice for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks, and other high-profile police brutality cases.

Awards & Achievements
L. Chris Stewart has received multiple awards in his career, along with achievements, details of which are as follows:


 * Stewart was selected as 2011, 2012, and 2013 Rising Star Super Lawyer for the State of Georgia.


 * In 2014, Chris received the Esquire Award from the National Bar Association’s Small Firms/Solo Practitioners Division for his professional achievements, numerous political/social causes affecting the African-American community, and mentorship of other attorneys.


 * He was selected as a 2011-2015 Super Lawyer for the State of Georgia. In addition, in 2012 Chris was named on the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s list of Who’s Who in Law as a top Georgia attorney.


 * He was also a finalist for Nation’s Best Advocates: 40 Lawyers under 40, selected for the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association’s LEAD program for most promising future leaders in law.


 * Chris is also a member of the Atlanta Bar Association Judicial Selection and Tenure Committee.


 * Chris has received multiple jury verdicts and settlements for millions of dollars for his clients including one of the largest premises liability verdicts of 2010 in the state of Georgia, a record $5.1 million pre-trial settlement in 2011, and a 2013 Camden County record jury verdict of $1.5 million for sexual assault, which was followed four days later by a six-figure slip and fall verdict in Hall County. In 2014, Chris received a $2 million settlement for sexual assault as well as represented clients in a $75 million class-action settlement. Chris is also recognized worldwide for his civil rights cases including the Walter Scott case and the Bryant Heyward case, both in Charleston, South Carolina.


 * He has also received the 2016 recipient of the R.E. Thomas Civil Rights Award.


 * He has also received the 2018 Julia Humbles’ Civil Rights Award.

for Leadership.
 * He has also received the National Bar Association’s Wiley Branton Award
 * He is the first and only African-American to be voted Attorney of the Year for the State of Georgia.


 * He has also received the 2018 Outstanding Citizen Award for the State of Georgia.


 * He has also received the 2018 Georgia Senate Outstanding Public Service Proclamation, the 2018 Pinnacle Leadership Award.


 * He has also received the 2018 Georgia Legislative Black Caucus Chairman’s Award.


 * In December 2020, he received National Bar Association Change-Maker Award.