Christopher Suarez

Christopher A. Suarez is an outside-the-box thinker with a passion for helping clients understand and manage risks in high-technology, particularly technologies in the computer software, hardware, and semiconductor domains. As an intellectual property litigator, he focuses his practice on patent, copyright, and trade secret trials and appeals before every level of the US court system, including federal district courts, US courts of appeals, the US Supreme Court, the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and other administrative tribunals. Chris's experience in district court litigation spans all phases of litigation, including overseeing fact discovery; taking and defending fact and expert depositions; arguing dispositive motions, claim construction, and appeals; and examining witnesses at trial. Chris's experience at the PTAB includes cross-examining witnesses and successfully arguing on behalf of his client at the oral hearing.

In high-stakes IP litigation, Chris has represented both plaintiffs and defendants, which allows him to see each case from multiple angles. Chris also has counseled clients in dozens of appeals at the Federal Circuit, which informs the trial strategies he develops with clients in the District Court. Chris frequently participates in cases as an "appellate counsel" in IP cases—one who is embedded on the case team as co-counsel to spot appellate issues and provide an outsider's perspective on ongoing litigation, so as to set the case team up for longer term success.

Aside from litigation, Chris provides counseling at the intersection of IP and emerging technology. He has written and spoken extensively on topics at the intersection of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). He is the co-editor of the book Artificial Intelligence: Legal Issues, Policy, and Practical Strategies (ABA, 2024), as well as The Internet of Things: Legal Issues, Policy, and Practical Strategies (ABA, 2019). With his in-depth knowledge of the legal landscape pertaining to these emerging technologies, Chris helps his clients navigate the challenges and opportunities that both AI and the IoT present. To that end, Chris assists clients across a wide range of industries with risk management, establishing and refining AI governance policies and procedures, and helps provide an outside perspective on how such policies and procedures should be modified or adopted. With his technical background, Chris also reviews AI-based products and use cases (including their underlying AI models and training data) to assess risks spanning privacy, IP, cybersecurity, discrimination, and other areas. Chris also assists clients with portfolio management, helping organizations develop or refine their IP policies and procedures—including their efforts to balance patent, trade secret, and copyright protections in the context of AI and IoT technology. Chris is an adept advisor on patent and software licensing, having both litigated and drafted IP licenses for his clients, including those involving standards essential patents (SEPs) in the fields of wireless technologies (such as 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, and audio/video codecs) and in computer hardware. Chris has also advised clients on open source software (OSS) licenses, including open source AI models. As a CIPP/US certified attorney, Chris adds a privacy perspective to his IP expertise, and strives to provide an interdisciplinary and practical dimension to all his advice.

Chris is also passionate about advancing the legal profession through leadership and advocacy. He is the Secretary of the American Bar Association’s Science and Technology Section and serves in the leadership of numerous bar organizations, including the Giles Rich American Inn of Court, the Federal Circuit Bar Association, Intellectual Property Owners Association, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He is also active in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) and a member of Steptoe's Diversity and Inclusion Committee, where he has served as the leader of Steptoe's Latin American Lawyers Affinity Group.

Beyond IP, Chris maintains a robust pro bono practice where he has represented criminal defendants before the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, K-12 students facing educational injustices under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and federal employees under the employment discrimination and civil service laws. His federal employee representations have included successful representations of employees afflicted with psychiatric disabilities and brain injuries, including the Havana Syndrome, as well as whistleblower cases on behalf of federal employees who have served our country in the US Department of Labor, Department of State, Department of the Navy, and the Patent and Trademark Office.

Chris is a former elected official and public school board member, and has served on several nonprofit boards in both DC and Northern Virginia.