CHIEF APPELLATE ATTORNEY
P.855-VENFIGHTS
Christopher Desmond is the Chief Appellate Attorney at Ven Johnson Law, PLC. His career includes experience in both state and federal courts, and at both the trial and appellate levels. Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Michigan State University College of Law in 2007, where he was selected as a King Scholar and received multiple jurisprudence awards. During law school, he worked for three federal judges and for the office of general counsel of a multinational corporation.
Following law school, Chris worked as a research attorney at the Michigan Court of Appeals. He then served as a law clerk for Judge Cynthia Stephens at the Michigan Court of Appeals. During his five years of dedicated service to that Court, Chris directly worked on hundreds of cases and a wide range of legal issues. Since 2012, he has used every bit of his experience to advocate for the clients of Ven Johnson Law.
In his time at Ven Johnson Law, Chris has represented clients in state and federal trial courts throughout Michigan, as well as in the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Michigan Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Sixth and Ninth Circuits and the United States Supreme Court. Among his greatest successes are one of the largest personal injury verdicts to ever be affirmed by the Michigan Court of Appeals, one of the most significant victories for a plaintiff in a governmental immunity case in the Michigan Supreme Court and numerous victories on behalf of individuals who were deprived of their civil rights by government officials.
In addition to his work on behalf of his clients at Ven Johnson Law, Chris is also an active member of the legal community. He is a member of the Michigan Association for Justice Executive Board and is the co-chair of the organization’s Governmental Immunity Committee. He has published and contributed to articles on the subjects of governmental immunity, premises liability and vicarious liability for intentional torts. He is the author of the governmental immunity chapter in ICLE’s upcoming volume of Torts: Michigan Law and Practice as well as the author of ICLE’s upcoming volume of Governmental Immunity in Michigan. He has written several successful amicus briefs on behalf of the Negligence Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan in both the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court. He has also been a featured speaker on a variety of issues of importance in the law.