Christopher Banys started Banys, P.C. with one goal in mind: providing intelligent, effective advocacy to help his clients achieve justice. A dedicated civil trial lawyer with experience in numerous types of cases, Mr. Banys brings his passion for justice to every client, in every case.
Mr. Banys fights hard for his clients. In 2015 alone, Mr. Banys served as lead trial lawyer in five trials – and won all five. The following year, Mr. Banys won three trials, including a $12.5 million jury verdict for breach of contract against Qualcomm in San Diego, among the 30 highest verdicts, statewide, that year. And in June 2020, Mr. Banys argued a case before the California Supreme Court. Overall, his tenacity has resulted in recovering tens of millions of dollars for his clients, as well as winning several defense victories.
This dedication to helping his clients has earned Mr. Banys recognition from his peers and the press. Indeed, the National Trial Lawyers Association named Mr. Banys among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers from 2012-2020. The Recorder named Mr. Banys a “Lawyer On The Fast Track” in 2012, one of just 50 lawyers in California to receive that honor. And the SuperLawyers publication named Mr. Banys a Super Lawyer from 2014-2025 and a Rising Star from 2011-2013.
Mr. Banys’ commitment to justice includes lending a hand to those in need who cannot afford legal help, earning him pro bono awards including: An Equal Justice America fellowship; several law firm awards, including pro bono associate of the year; the Legal Services for Children’s 2008 Pro Bono Advocate Award; and a Certificate of Appreciation from the Northern District of California’s Silicon Valley Pro Bono Project in 2011. In 2018, Super Lawyers featured Mr. Banys in the article “The Human Part of It”, which highlighted his pro bono work.
Christopher Banys first became well known for helping inventors stand up to patent infringers, regardless of their size, and served as lead trial lawyer in scores of patent-infringement cases around the country. As a result of his knowledge and reputation, Mr. Banys was invited to debate proposed patent legislation in the U.S. Senate and submitted congressional testimony on the issue of patent reform. He also presented at the first international Cloud Law Summit in London, England.
Mr. Banys also has extensive experience litigating complex business disputes, class-action, construction defect, employment, catastrophic personal injury and dangerous and defective medical product cases in federal, state and administrative-law courts and in arbitration.
Recent cases include:
- SAI v. QUALCOMM, (San Diego Sup. Ct): Won a $12.5 million jury verdict representing start-up SAI in a breach of contract case alleging that QUALCOMM used SAI source code in its products without making the required payments.
- Freeny v. Murphy Oil, (E.D. Tex); Won a $9.25 million jury verdict for three brothers in patent infringement case involving automated synchronous price and advertising technology;
- Paton v. AMD, (Santa Clara Sup. Ct.): Mr. Banys served as lead trial lawyer for a class of over 1,700 employees against a major Silicon Valley employer who wrongfully withheld employees vacation pay by miscategorizing the benefit as “sabbatical” and obtained a $5.4 million settlement for the plaintiff class;
For more of Mr. Banys’s cases and practice areas, visit our Services pages.
Mr. Banys earned his law degree from Boston University School of Law, where he was a Dean’s Scholar. While at B.U., Mr. Banys participated in the school’s exceptional Criminal Clinic program where he tried criminal cases in Massachusetts state courts for two semesters. Mr. Banys, along with a good friend, also won the school’s negotiation competition, going on to represent B.U. in regional competition. Mr. Banys spent his final semester of law school studying at Oxford University in Oxford, England. He earned his undergraduate degree in Spanish and Portuguese from the University of California (Berkeley), with high honors and high distinction in general scholarship.
Mr. Banys founded the Intellectual Property Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice and is active in several other legal associations.
Mr. Banys is an outdoorsman and a commercially-rated pilot serving on the San Luis Obsipo County Sheriff’s Aero Squadron.
Prior to founding Banys, P.C., Mr. Banys started and led the Palo Alto, California office of a prominent national trial firm and ran that firm’s intellectual property practice for five years, and before that, had been associated with several Silicon Valley law firms.
Christopher Banys is admitted to practice before the following courts:
- The United States Supreme Court;
- The United States Courts of Appeal for the Federal and Ninth Circuits;
- The United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern Districts of California; the Western District of Wisconsin; the District of Nebraska; the District of Colorado; the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; and the Eastern District of Texas;
- The California Supreme Court and all other California state courts.
Mr. Banys has also practiced and served as lead counsel in trials and hearings in arbitrations and in multiple administrative-law courts, including the International Trade Commission, The California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, and Federal Immigration Court.
