J. Christopher Byrd
General Civil Trial and Commercial Litigation, Transactional Corporate and Business Planning
Chris Byrd, raised in Texas, attended Oklahoma Christian University of Arts and Sciences, graduating cum laude with a B.S. in Accounting. Prior to graduating in 1979, Mr. Byrd was appointed by the Comptroller of the Currency as an Associate National Bank Examiner and continued working for the Comptroller until entering law school in 1981. Mr. Byrd received both his M.B.A. (cum laude) and his J.D. From Texas Tech University in Lubbock in 1984 and became a member of the State Bar of Texas in 1985. Mr. Byrd began his law practice with Robinson & Fotheringham in Amarillo, where he handled general civil, commercial and banking law matters before being appointed judge for the Municipal Court of Amarillo, a court of record, for two years. In 1990, Mr. Byrd joined Phillips handling property tax, real estate and claims matters, as a tax specialist in the Office of the Controller; and as senior insurance administrator in Risk Management, Treasury. In 1992, Mr. Byrd represented the prevailing party before the Supreme Court of Texas, Smith v. Southwest Feedyards,835 S.W.2d 89 Tex., 1992. Mr. Byrd became a member of the State Board of Public Accountancy of Oklahoma in 1993 and was certified as an Associate in Risk Management in 1997. In 1999, Mr. Byrd moved to San Antonio and joined Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corporation (now Valero Energy), serving as Risk Manager, Property and Claims and as Chief Operating Officer and Vice President for Corporate Claims Management, Inc., a third-party claims administration company. He has authored several works, including "A Core Program Partnership" for Phillips Petroleum, recognized as the first long-term non-cancelable, catastrophic risk program in the commercial insurance industry and "A Right to Anonymity" in Selected Writings of Texas Tech Law School Students, 1994. He joined Nunley Jolley Cluck Aelvoet LLP in early 2002 and practices in the areas of general civil and commercial law.