Chris Olson

Education

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

B.A. in Political Science
Campbell University School of Law

J.D., magna cum laude
Campbell Law Review, Notes and Comments Editor
Member of Prince Evidence Moot Court Team (Second Place)

Bar Admissions

North Carolina
U.S. District Court, EDNC
U.S. District Court, MDNC
U.S. District Court, WDNC

Publications

Manuscript Author and Presenter, “So, You’re Going to Sue a Big Bank . . . Or, How to Stay Busy for Eight Years.” NC Advocates for Justice Mountain Magic 2009.
Editor, NC Advocates for Justice, Manual of Complaints, Commercial Litigation Section, 2009-2010.

Speaking Engagements

Co-Chair and Speaker, “Class Actions: Making Mountains out of Molehills.” NC Advocates for Justice Convention 2014.
Presenter, “Class Action Roundtable.” UNC Festival of Legal Learning 2010.
Chair of NC Advocates for Justice Commercial Litigation Section, 2012-2013.

Leadership

North Carolina Advocates for Justice
North Carolina Bar Association
Wake County Bar Association
Executive Committee

Chris Olson of Counsel

Chris Olson began his legal career clerking for Senior Judge Franklin T. Dupree of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. For the past 25 years, Chris has built a successful legal practice handling a wide variety of complex civil litigation matters and fighting for those wronged by the misconduct of others. He has litigated cases through trial and appeal, primarily in the state and federal courts of North Carolina, but he has also successfully handled cases in Georgia, Texas, Washington, D.C., and before the Fourth and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeal.

For more than a decade, Chris has devoted himself to civil rights work, primarily exoneration efforts and wrongful incarceration claims. He has served as private pro bono counsel on innocence claims pursued by the Duke University School of Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic and assisted with two efforts that resulted in exonerations. For Chris, there is no greater honor or privilege than to seek justice for those whose voices have too often and for too long gone unheard or ignored.

Earlier in his career, Chris served as class counsel and spearheaded successful class action lawsuits on behalf of subprime borrowers against major financial institutions. After years of extensive litigation through the state and federal courts of North Carolina, the cases resolved for $42.5 million and $38.75 million and resulted in substantial settlement payments to thousands of low-income borrowers. Chris was awarded the N.C. Justice Center’s 2009 Defender of Justice Award for his work in those predatory lending class action suits. He has been recognized as a North Carolina Super Lawyer on a regular basis since 2014 and holds Martindale-Hubbell’s “AV” peer review rating, the highest level of professional excellence in legal knowledge, communication skills, and ethical standards.

In his free time, Chris enjoys family game nights and going to the beach with his wife and two daughters, gardening, and long-distance hikes. He has (so far) tackled Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, the Black Mountain Crest Trail with five peaks of 6,000+ feet, Mount Whitney, and the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim.

Education

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Campbell University School of Law

Bar Admissions

Publications

Speaking Engagements

Leadership

Chris Olson of Counsel

Inquiries

Charlotte Office

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