Christopher Raistrick is a skilled litigator and trial lawyer with almost 30 years of experience handling aviation, commercial, insurance, and toxic tort matters. Leveraging his degree in chemistry, Christopher has an analytical mind well suited for complex litigation in the aviation and aerospace sector. For much of his career, Christopher has counseled major manufacturing companies, operators, flight schools, and repair stations in state and federal courts throughout the United States and internationally.
With a vast array of experience, Christopher offers his clients more than just an excellent defense. He understands that problems and cases can be multi-faceted, requiring different perspectives. Christopher has applied this experience and perspective representing aircraft and component manufacturing companies, operators, airlines, repair stations, fixed base operators, and flight schools. Representative matters throughout his career have included but are not limited to the defense of a flight school in a midair collision near Palwaukee airport, defense of an airline regarding the design of airstairs resulting in a favorable summary judgment ruling on federal preemption, defense of numerous wrongful death lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions involving claims against the manufacturer of an autopilot system, defense of a general aviation heater manufacturer in a serious personal injury matter due to an inflight fire, defense of a flight school in a wrongful death matter in Washington due to a bird strike during flight training, defense of a maintenance facility in Canada involving multi-million-dollar property damage claims, defense of multiple wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits against a flight school in the U.S. and Europe, defense of multiple wrongful death lawsuits against the manufacturer of ground proximity warning systems, including the crash of a major cargo carrier in Birmingham, Alabama and prevailing at summary judgment on the issue of causation in one of the worst aviation accidents in Australia.
Given Christopher’s diverse range of experience, he has been asked to represent aviation clients in other matters beyond wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits. Such other lawsuits against manufacturers, operators, and airlines include employment and discrimination claims, commercial disputes, defamation, zoning, insurance coverage, cargo losses, breach of contract, and regulatory matters. Christopher also obtained dismissals in almost 150 asbestos cases in multiple jurisdictions defending a general aviation engine manufacturer.
Christopher’s passion for representing the interests of his clients began at a legal clinic, where he earned his trial chops fighting for the underrepresented, disenfranchised, and small businesses in South Chicago in housing, guardianship, family law, administrative, contract, and other matters. In the years that followed, and before embarking on his career in aviation law, Christopher tackled cases involving constitutional rights, insurance coverage, employment, commercial disputes, medical malpractice, and general defense.
Christopher has been named an Illinois Super Lawyer in Aviation & Aerospace multiple years since 2019. He is a member of the Illinois and Chicago Bar Associations and has been involved in the Chicago Bar Association Aviation Committee throughout his career.
Christopher is admitted to practice before state and federal courts in Illinois, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
