Meet Christopher Nolland

Christopher Nolland is typically engaged to resolve the most serious and consequential matters as a neutral Mediator or Arbitrator. In select cases, Mr. Nolland serves as a non-neutral advocate and point person for settlement negotiations for one side of the dispute in his role as Special Settlement Counsel.

Mediation and Arbitration

Since starting his Mediation and Arbitration practice in 1993, Christopher Nolland has become one of the most sought after and respected ADR neutrals in the United States. He has conducted over 3,000 mediations and arbitrations, primarily in complex business and commercial matters of all sorts, fiduciary litigation, and significant employment matters. Nolland's mediation and arbitration practice focuses on large, complex, multifaceted disputes. His mediation and arbitration practice is national in scope and from time to time involves parties and disputes internationally. Mr. Nolland is a member of both the AAA National Panel of Arbitrators and the AAA National Panel of Mediators. You can see  more detailed information about Mr. Nolland's ADR practice on the Mediation & Arbitration page. 

Settlement Counsel Practice

While his Mediation and Arbitration practice is a principal focus, over the past 20 years Chris Nolland has also established a significant national practice as Settlement Counsel (sometimes referred to as "Special Negotiation Counsel"), acting as the primary negotiator for one party in a non-neutral role. His Settlement Counsel practice has been the subject of leading legal and business publications. Mr. Nolland has been engaged as Settlement Counsel in dozens of matters, typically involving complex high stakes business litigation and significant fiduciary disputes. These matters have included major trust and probate litigation, director and officer litigation, professional liability matters (legal, accounting, and auditing malfeasance), intellectual property and patent disputes, class actions, and partnership and closely held business litigation, as well as a number of significant insolvency and litigation trustee matters involving claims of fraudulent transfers, Ponzi schemes, insider self-dealing, or other actionable conduct. While many of these matters settled on a confidential basis, others are matters of public record; for instance, a significant settlement of D&O litigation reported in the national business press). Further information about Mr. Nolland's Settlement Counsel practice and the structural advantages of such an arrangement is available on the Settlement Counsel page .

Background and Other Information

As an Adjunct Professor of Law at SMU Law School for 25 years, Mr. Nolland  has taught a full semester course on Negotiation to 2nd and 3rd year law students and LLM candidates.

After law school, Mr. Nolland served as an appellate law clerk and thereafter practiced law in New York City with a major national firm and in New York City and Dallas, Texas as a partner with a well-known national business litigation firm. Mr. Nolland is admitted to practice in Texas and New York and numerous United States Courts of Appeal and United States District Courts, as well as the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Nolland is a Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators and a member of  the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (both by invitation only) as well as a member of  the Association of Attorney Mediators and the ADR and Litigation sections of National, State and Local Bar Associations. 

Professional Recognition

Chris Nolland has been repeatedly selected as one of the leading attorneys Nationally, in Texas, and in Dallas for his ADR practice. He was named by Chambers as a leading national Mediator each year from 2017-2024 (ranked  Nationwide Band 2 in 2021, 2022,  2023, and 2024). Chambers noted in its 2020 profile that "Christopher Nolland brings a 'very innovative' approach to mediation...". In its 2023 profile, Chambers reported comments about Nolland that  "He is a really brilliant guy that is always thinking about how to take mediation to the next level." Most recently in 2024 Chambers remarks that "Chris is a wonderful mediator and also serves as settlement counsel to help parties resolve disputes. He comes with high praise."  

Other national and regional recognitions  include selection by Thompson Reuters as a Texas Super Lawyer (every year from 2003 – 2024 and in 2007 and 2020 as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Texas); selected by D Magazine in its annual and bi-annual listing of the Best Lawyers in Dallas (2003 - 2024)  and named  as  an Inaugural Member of the D Magazine Best Lawyers Hall of Fame (2022); selected for over 15 years as one of The Best Lawyers in America (2008 – 2025)  by BL Rankings LLC ; and ranked as a Best Lawyer by U.S. News and World Report in 2013 – 2024. Mr. Nolland was recognized as a leader in Commercial Mediation in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and in prior years by Who's Who Legal (published by Law Business Research Ltd in London). In 2016 Mr. Nolland was selected by Texas Lawyer for its Lifetime Achievement Award.

American Lawyer named Chris Nolland to its 2021 Inaugural Class of Trailblazers South for his creation and development of  a new practice area -  acting as Special Settlement Counsel to clients in major litigation. In 2016, Mr. Nolland was named as a National ADR Champion by The National Law Journal and was the recipient of the Steve Brutsché Award from the national Association of Attorney Mediators, its highest honor. In 2018, he received the  Justice Frank Evans Award from the ADR Section of the State Bar of Texas for excellence in the field of Alternate Dispute Resolution. In 2019 Texas Lawyer named Mr. Nolland a Texas Trailblazer for his development of the Special Settlement Counsel concept of bifurcating the litigation and settlement negotiation functions among different outside counsel.

A printer-friendly version of Mr. Nolland's background  Biography and a detailed CV is available here.