Christopher C. Negrete

Partner

Office: Philadelphia

Direct: 215-461-3304

Fax: 215-461-3311

cnegrete@nullohaganmeyer.com

  • Professional Overview

    Chris defends licensed professionals, including skilled nursing facilities, architects and engineers, and insurance professionals against allegations that they breached their professional standards of care.  His extensive litigation and transactional experiences include defending private and governmental entities in employment and civil rights matters; businesses in commercial disputes; design professionals and contractors in construction defect litigation;  and designers, manufacturers and retailers against product liability law suits.  Chris advises insurance companies in disputes regarding the extent and scope of the coverages afforded by their policies.

    Chris has a particular affinity for the challenges and lasting impact of appellate work.  On behalf of his clients, he has obtained numerous favorable decisions from federal and state appellate courts, including:

    • Affirming that a J-1 visa sponsor is not an insurer of the safety of adult participants in the U.S. State Department’s Summer Work & Travel Program;
    • Granting a new trial where the trial judge refused to permit the introduction of evidence establishing the liability of a settling co-defendant;
    • Reversing a lower court’s decision that struck an intermediate care facility’s objections to discovery based upon the Pennsylvania Peer Review Protection Act;
    • Affirming that a developer may not subvert the appeal provisions of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code by asserting claims for breach of contract and promissory estoppel; and
    • Affirming that federal courts lack subject matter jurisdiction over challenges to state and local taxes where state courts supply an adequate remedy, and holding that Pennsylvania courts provide such a remedy.

    Chris also understands the importance of minimizing his clients’ exposure to litigation through strong contract language. He has negotiated and drafted numerous business agreements including shareholder agreements, employment agreements, operating agreements, stock and asset purchase agreements, finance leases, and agreements for the sale of real estate.

     
  • Practice Areas
  • Education and Admissions

    Education

    • B.A. from the University of Tennessee, magna cum laude.
    • J.D. from Villanova University School of Law.

    Admissions

    • United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
    • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
    • United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
    • United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

    States Licensed

    • Pennsylvania
  • Professional Organization Memberships
    • Pennsylvania Bar Association
    • Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Bar Association
    • Philadelphia Bar Association
    • Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel
  • News, Honors, Publications & Speeches
    • Published Opinion: Monger v. Upper Leacock Township, 132 A.3d 585 (Pa. Commw. 2016) (holding that developers cannot assert claims for breach of express and implied contract and promissory estoppel against a municipality to subvert the 30-day deadline to appeal land use decisions set forth in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code)
    • Lozano v. City of Hazleton: A Review of Recent U.S. Court Decisions on Preemption (Article in DRI’s For the Defense magazine, December 2008)
    • Prepared overviews of Pennsylvania law for publication in CLM Claims Manual (2013)
    • Overview of Comparative Negligence, Joint and Several Liability and Contribution in Select States (Presentation for RSUI, April 2015)
    • Overview of Products Liability Claims and Defenses in Select States (Presentation for Admiral Insurance, February 2015)
    • Overview of Liability for Criminal Acts of Third Parties in Select States (Presentation for RSUI, April 2013)
    • Overview of Insurance Claims Practices in New York and Ohio (Presentation for RSUI, May 2012)
    • Overview of Contractual Indemnity, Additional Insured Status and Insured Contracts in Construction Defect Matters in Select States (Presentation for RSUI, April 2012)
    • Overview of Insurability of Punitive Damages in the 50 United States (Presentation for RSUI, April 2011)
    • National Survey of Courts’ Interpretations of Real Property Exclusions J(5) and J(6) (Presentation for RSUI, March 2008)
    • The Assault and Battery Exclusion: A Survey of Its Interpretation in Key States (Presentation to RSUI, March 2007)
    • Overview of Comparative Negligence, Joint and Several Liability and Contribution in the 50 United States (Presentation for Admiral Insurance, January 2006)
    • Overview of Comparative Negligence, Joint and Several Liability and Contribution in the 50 United States (Presentation for ACE Insurance, October 2005)
    • Overview of Indemnity/Hold Harmless Agreements and Additional Insured Status in Select States (Presentation for RSUI, March 2005)
    • Overview of Comparative Negligence, Joint and Several Liability and Contribution in the 50 United States (Presentation for RSUI, March 2004)