About L. Chris Stewart

L. Chris Stewart is the Managing Partner of Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys. He is recognized worldwide as one of the top civil rights lawyers of his generation, having represented some of the most prominent civil rights cases of this century, including those of Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Rayshard Brooks. Stewart handles wrongful death, civil rights, premises liability, trucking, and sexual assault cases. He made U.S. history by winning the first billion-dollar jury verdict for a rape victim and has collected over $200 million in personal injury cases for his clients.

He has been featured in international media including CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, The New York Times, Fox News, Good Morning America, The Today Show, and Forbes. A double HBCU alumnus, he graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana with honors in English, earned a Master of Science in Public Health from Tulane University, and received his J.D. from Howard University School of Law. He is a board member of the Southern Center for Human Rights and Georgia Appleseed, and is a member of the Atlanta Bar Association.

Proven verdicts and settlements

A Clayton County jury awarded $1 billion to a woman who was raped at age 14 by an armed security guard her employer hired without verifying he was licensed to carry a weapon.

State Court of Clayton County, Georgia · 2018Premises LiabilityRead the full story →

Ben Crump, with co-counsel Antonio Romanucci and L. Chris Stewart, negotiated a $27 million settlement between the family of George Floyd and the City of Minneapolis, announced by the family's lawyers as the largest pretrial settlement of a civil rights wrongful-death claim in American history. The city council approved the payment unanimously in March 2021, while jury selection in Derek Chauvin's murder trial was underway blocks away.

U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota / City of Minneapolis, MN · 2021Civil RightsRead the full story →

A Forsyth County jury awarded $16 million to a woman sexually assaulted in her Winston-Salem Residence Inn room after a hotel night clerk who had not been properly trained handed a visibly intoxicated stranger a keycard to her room.

Forsyth County Superior Court, North Carolina · 2024Premises LiabilityRead the full story →
$6.5 millionSettlementTop 20 in South Carolina · #17

The City of North Charleston paid $6.5 million to the family of Walter Scott, an unarmed man shot in the back by a police officer after a routine traffic stop, in what attorney L. Chris Stewart described as the largest pre-lawsuit settlement in South Carolina history.

City of North Charleston, South Carolina · 2015Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$4.5 millionSettlement

The City of Baton Rouge agreed to pay $4.5 million to the five children of Alton Sterling, who was fatally shot by police outside a Baton Rouge convenience store in July 2016, after the East Baton Rouge Metro Council approved the settlement in February 2021.

City of Baton Rouge / East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana · 2021Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$3 millionSettlementTop 20 in Minnesota · #16

AirMaxx Trampoline Park in St. Cloud, Minnesota agreed to pay $3 million to settle claims brought by Anthony Seitz, a Brainerd man left permanently paralyzed after striking the bottom of a foam pit at the facility in August 2015.

Stearns County District Court, Minnesota (settled during mediation) · 2017Premises LiabilityRead the full story →
$1 millionSettlement

The City of East Point, Georgia paid $1 million, the maximum under its insurance policy, to settle the family's claims after two officers shocked Gregory Towns Jr. with a Taser 14 times while he was handcuffed and on the ground.

East Point, Georgia · 2014Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$1 millionSettlement

Atlanta's City Council voted 15-0 to approve a $1 million settlement with the family of Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old man shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer in June 2020.

City of Atlanta, Georgia · 2022Wrongful DeathRead the full story →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

Howard University School of Law
J.D.
Xavier University of Louisiana
Undergraduate

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Georgia

Other attorneys at Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys

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$75 Million Verdict for Man Left Locked In After ER and Radiology Missed His Brain Stem Stroke
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$162 million · Sober Living Van Fire on I-85 Ends in $162 Million Settlement
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$2.53 Billion Ford Super Duty Roof Crush Verdict for a Georgia Couple
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$61.4 million · $69.6 Million Verdict for Navy Veteran Paralyzed in Kroger Parking Lot Shooting

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.