Mr. Erik A. Christiansen | Attorney

Erik Christiansen has 20 years of experience, is a shareholder in the Litigation department, and Chair of the firm's Securities Practice Litigation Group. Mr. Christiansen represents clients in commercial and business litigation matters, including primarily commercial contract disputes, securities litigation matters, and insurance coverage disputes. Mr. Christiansen represents companies, officers, directors, broker dealers and registered representatives, among others, in securities class actions, derivative actions, internal investigations, proxy disputes, NASD arbitrations, shareholder disputes, partnership disputes, and in defense of enforcement actions and investigations involving the SEC and FINRA. Mr. Christiansen also practices in the areas of trade secrets and partnership dispute litigation. He is also a member of the Employment Law department where he focuses on non-compete and non-solicitation agreement litigation. Prior to joining the firm in 1996, Mr. Christiansen practiced for six years in Los Angeles, California as an attorney at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy and as an attorney at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. In 2008, Mr. Christiansen was named one of eight Future Stars in Utah by Benchmark Litigation. In addition to his practice in Utah, Mr. Christiansen also continues to maintain an active practice in California.

Related Activities and Skills:

• Chair, Securities Litigation Practice Group
• Articles Editor and Member of Editorial Board, Utah Law Review
• William H. Leary Scholar
• President Federal Bar Association, Utah Chapter, 2008-2009
• Commissioner, Utah State Securities Commission, appointed by Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., June 17, 2009 to the present
• Member, Steering Committee of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee, in the A.B.A.'s Litigation Section, 2009 to the present
• Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America, 2010, Securities Litigation 
• Selected, Mountain States Super Lawyers, Securities Litigation, 2009 and 2010 
• President, Board of Trustees, Salt Lake Art Center, 2006-2009
• Chairman, Securities Section of the Utah State Bar, 2005-2006
• President, University of Utah Young Alumni Board, 2000-2002
• Chair, University of Utah Board of Advisors for Undergraduate Education, 2009-present
• Member of Executive Committee, Salt Lake Visitor and Convention Bureau's Board of Trustees, 2009-present
• Member, Board of Directors and Executive Committee, KRCL 90.9 FM, Community Radio, 2006-present
• Member, Board of Trustees and Executive Committee, International Sculpture Center, Hamilton, New Jersey, 2006 - 2008
• Member, Constitution, Bylaws and Rules Committee for the National Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, 2006-2009
• Maintains a Martindale-Hubbell AV rating
• Board of Trustees, Legal Aid Society, 2003-2006
• Member, Planning Committee, Mountain West Capital Network, 2006-2008
• Member, Advisory Group to the Utah Division of Securities, charged with review of the Uniform Securities Act of 2002
• Board of Trustees, University of Utah College of Law, S.J. Quinney Law School, 1996-1999
• Associate, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy, 1990-1993
• Associate, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, 1993-1995
• Co-Chair, 2007 CLE Seminar, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee of the A.B.A.
• Editor-in-Chief of Coverage, the official journal of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association's Section of Litigation, 2007-present
• Regional Representative, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee of the Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association, 2003-2004.
• Co-Chair of the Bad Faith Subcommittee of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee of the Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association, 2002-2004
• 2002 Winter Olympic Counsel, Utah State Bar Association, represented Olympic athletes before the Court of Arbitration for Sport during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games
• Member, Salt Lake County Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association
• Successfully represented Marie-Reine Le Gougne, the French Judge involved in the Pairs Figure Skating controversy in the 2002 Winter Olympics, in her disciplinary hearing before the International Skating Union ("ISU") in Lausanne, Switzerland on April 29-30, 2002
• Successfully represented bobsled pilot and four-time Olympian Sandis Prusis and the Latvian Olympic Committee in the Tribunal Arbitral Du Sport, Court of Arbitration for Sport ("CAS"), Ad hoc Division - XIX Winter Olympic Games in a case against the International Olympic Committee ("IOC"), which reversed a decision of the IOC and resulted in Mr. Prusis being able to compete in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah (CAS arbitration No CAS 0G02/001)

Published Works:

• Technicolor Hats:  The Danger of Relying Solely on D&O Insurance to Protect In-House Counsel in Securities Litigation, American Bar Association's Coverage magazine, Vol. 16, No. 1, January/February 2006
• Author, Utah Chapter of Insurance Bad Faith: A Compendium of State Law, Published by the DRI Defense Library Series, May 2004
• Constitutional Limitations on Litigating Bad Faith Claims After State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Campbell, America Bar Association's Coverage magazine, Vol. 13, No. 3, 2003
• Sterling V. Velsicol Chemical Corporation: Emotional Distress Damages for the Duration of Toxic Exposure, Utah Law Review 759, 1989
• Miranda-Like Warnings Required in Non-Custodial Settings, Utah Law Review 260, No. 1, 1989
• A Discussion of the Budget Crisis, 4 Utah Forum 45, Spring, 1986