Chris Arledge / Partner

Office: (949) 502-2870
Direct: (949) 502-2872
Fax: (949) 258-5081
Email: carledge@onellp.com
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A “superb lawyer … excellent advocate … it was a pleasure to try the case.”
- Comments by a United States District Judge after a recent jury trial.

Chris Arledge is a co-founder and managing partner of One LLP. Chris began his career litigating business disputes at O’Melveny & Myers, but his primary focus at One LLP is intellectual property litigation, particularly disputes over copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. In recent years, he has handled disputes involving the intellectual property of celebrities like Madonna, Don Henley, Kobe Bryant, Bette Davis, and Perez Hilton.

Lawyers are called, above all, to persuade, and Chris therefore studies and teaches the principles of persuasion. He has taught the Art of Persuasion at Chapman Law School and has lectured on persuasion to some of the largest, most prestigious professional firms in the country, including Munger Tolles, O’Melveny, Jones Day, and Deloitte.

Chris is an experienced and successful oral advocate, skilled in the art of connecting with his audience, including juries. The veteran of dozens of trials and arbitrations, Chris has compiled a string of recent victories that can be matched by very few trial lawyers.

In the last 18 months alone, Chris has been lead trial counsel in the following matters:

In a trade secret case, Chris secured a $7 million verdict for his client, which had been damaged when former employees used the company’s trade secrets to steal customers.

In an arbitration before arguably Southern California’s premier arbitrator, Chris prevailed on claims totaling $4.3 million plus attorneys’ fees (Chris’s client recovered $1.99 million plus its fees; the other party’s claim for $2.3 million was rejected completely).

Chris prevailed as his client was awarded an ownership interest in a television program and the other party’s claim for damages was rejected.

At the conclusion of a trademark and trade dress case where the plaintiff alleged millions in damages, Chris persuaded the trial judge to preclude a monetary recovery for the plaintiff because of insufficient evidence.
In a troubled trade-secret case Chris took over from another law firm at the last second — where Chris’ client had, among other things, missed the deadline for designating expert witnesses — Chris was able to persuade the jury to reject the multi-million dollar damages calculation done by the plaintiff’s expert, salvaging what could have been a disastrous situation for the client.

Chris has polished his advocacy skills outside the courtroom as well, participating in speaking engagements and debates sponsored by groups such as the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the University of Southern California, Chapman Law School, Whittier Law School, the Anti-Defamation League, California Lawyers for the Arts, and various Inns of Court and local bar associations, and by serving as a legal expert on a number of nationally syndicated radio programs. Chris has also studied how to apply strong oral advocacy skills to the day-to-day tasks of a litigator, and he now teaches those principles to law students as an adjunct professor at Chapman Law School, where he instructs students on effective deposition strategies and tactics.

Education & Background

O’Melveny & Myers LLP: Litigation Associate.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: Law Clerk to the Honorable Charles Wiggins.
University of Southern California: J.D.; Order of the Coif; Arthur Manella Scholarship winner(awarded to the top-ranked student in the class at the end of the first year); Law Review.
William Jewell College: B.A.; magna cum laude.

Jurisdictions

Chris is admitted to practice in California and Nevada.

Other Items of Interest

In law school, Chris was selected by William Rehnquist, then Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, as one of only 11 law students nationwide to be granted an interview as finalists in the Chief Justice’s clerkship-selection process.
Chris has been named a Rising Star multiple times by Southern California Super Lawyers magazine.
Chris is a Trustee of California Baptist University, where he has also taught constitutional law.
Chris is Chairman of the Board of Directors for Magnolia Memorial Park.