Christopher K.L. Young specializes in antitrust and class action litigation. He approaches his practice with a diligent and creative attitude while providing clients with high-quality legal representation. He was promoted to the firm’s partnership in 2023.
Chris’s professional qualifications are exemplified by his invaluable work on the Capacitors Price-Fixing Antitrust Litigation trial. As a leading associate (the firm is Sole Lead Counsel), he played a vital role in coordinating this massive price-fixing litigation as the firm litigated summary judgment, tried the case in 2020 for two weeks (before the pandemic caused a mistrial), and then commenced a November-December 2021 retrial. Chris had primary responsibilities for drafting and negotiating pretrial filings such as jury instructions and motions in limine, presenting evidence to the jury, and playing critical roles in nearly all other aspects of both trials. He has also been a leader in achieving final approval of settlements taking place from 2020 to 2023.
In addition to his duties for the firm, Chris volunteers for the Federal Pro Bono Project of the Bar Association of San Francisco. In a recent pro bono civil rights matter, he briefed and argued motions for summary judgment which led to a settlement that included significant monetary consideration and nonmonetary consideration that would have been unavailable as relief if the firm had prevailed at trial. In 2021, he was one of the speakers at a webinar co-sponsored by the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Justice and Diversity Center, the Asian Law Alliance, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California: "What Can I Do as a Pro Bono Attorney in the Northern District?"
Since 2021, Chris has been selected by Super Lawyers as a Northern California "Rising Star" in the antitrust litigation practice area. He has likewise been honored as one of the "Rising Stars of the Plaintiffs Bar" in the National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyer Awards (2022), as one of the “Lawyers on the Fast Track (Under 40)” in the Recorder’s California Legal Awards (2022), for an Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement by a Young Lawyer by the American Antitrust Institute (2022), by the California Lawyers Association as a "Lawyer to Watch" (2023), for the California Daily Journal's "40 Under 40" list (2023), by Best Lawyers as "One to Watch" (2023-present), and by Lawdragon for its "500 X - The Next Generation" guide (2023-present). In 2024, the Legal 500 named him as one of its elite “Next Generation Partners.”
Chris is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Bar Association of San Francisco, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He is currently Vice Chair for the ABA Antitrust Section’s Trial Practice Division and, also for the ABA, has been a Young Lawyer Representative for the Competition Torts Committee (2021-2022) and Young Lawyer Representative for the Leadership and Diversity Special Operations Team (2020-2021). He is a 2024 Education Committee co-chair for the Asian American Bar Association.
In 2023, Chris chaired a “How I Learned to Love Pretrial Filings” panel discussion at the ABA’s Antitrust Spring Meeting. He also frequently speaks about the firm’s generative artificial intelligence litigation. While an ABA Young Lawyer Representative, in 2022 he was a panelist in the "Career Conversations & Diversity Dialogues" program at the ABA Antitrust Section Spring Meeting aimed towards giving lawyers perspectives in possible career paths. He is also the author of "Technological Monopolies, Innovation, and the Freedom to Form Businesses: Like Oil and Water?" and "The Open Courts Act: Congress Finally Keeping A-Pacer."
Before joining the firm, Chris was a law clerk for Associate Justice Lamar W. Baker of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Five, where he drafted opinions on various issues and observed oral arguments to assist Justice Baker in making decisions. Prior to this, he was a post-bar fellow at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, where he drafted motions, conducted legal research, interviewed clients, and assisted with trial efforts.
While attending law school at UCLA, Chris was an associate editor of the Law Review and participated in the 2016 American Red Cross Clara Barton International Humanitarian Law Competition, where his team was awarded “Best Overall Team Research and Writing.” In addition, he worked as a certified legal intern for the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office, where he focused on complex securities fraud cases, represented clients at arraignment, and participated heavily in a trial, including examination of witnesses.
Chris donates his time to the local San Francisco community, speaking with local organizations to youth interested in a future legal career and volunteering as an essay reviewer for students currently applying to colleges.
