Christopher B. Branson

My job is about helping businesses and entrepreneurs succeed, and I enjoy it.

Biography

For over 25 years, Christopher has been serving the legal needs of businesses and entrepreneurs. He often serves as general counsel to clients and his experience covers the spectrum of the business cycle, from start-up, to investment and growth, to succession planning and exit strategies. Christopher also has considerable experience with business disputes and has successfully handled commercial litigation in both state and federal courts.

His clients past and present include biotech and technology companies, financial institutions, investment firms, logistics companies, entertainment venues, craft distilleries, winemakers, restaurants and retail businesses.

Christopher has been a frequent lecturer at bar seminars. Some of his areas of interest include:

• Choice of entity and corporate structures
• Intellectual property, including trademarks
• Private investment and private offerings
• Corporate restructuring (including partnership transactions)
• Equity compensation and incentive compensation
• Employment and personnel matters
• Mergers and acquisitions (including sale of business)
• Succession planning

Active in the community, Christopher served on the Board of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine for 19 years. He currently sits on the Board of Fellows of the Portland Museum of Art and on the Advisory Board of the Friends School of Portland. Christopher is resident of Falmouth.

Education

• Harvard Law School, J.D.
• Swarthmore College, B.A., Philosophy

Judicial Clerkship

• Hon. Stewart G. Pollock, Associate Justice, New Jersey Supreme  Court

Bar & Court Admissions

• Maine
• Massachusetts
• U.S. District Court for the District of Maine
• U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court

Representative Decisions

• C. Moore v. Les-Care Kitchens, Inc., 931 A.2d 1081(Me. 2007)(successful recovery pursuant to pre-judgment attachment)
• In re Estate of Chartier, 866 A.2d 125(Me. 2005)(successful rejection of disputed will)
• American Express v. Temm, 241 F. Supp.2d 30(D. Me. 2003)(successful opposition to motion to enjoin competition)
• Pew v. Scopino, 904 F.Supp. 18(D. Me. 1995)(successful opposition to summary judgment in § 1983 Action)

Blog Posts

• A start-up checklist: What to discuss in your first meeting with a lawyer
• LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, Partnership – Which entity is right for you?
• More from Chris

Videos

More resource videos.