Bio
Christopher J. Smith is the Nursing Home Litigation Chair at Brown & Barron, where he represents nursing home residents and their families in cases involving nursing home abuse, nursing home neglect, nursing home negligence, and injuries suffered by residents of nursing homes and other institutional care settings. Chris has over 17 years of litigation experience, which he employs while representing individuals and families in nursing home negligence cases.
Since joining Brown & Barron in 2024, Chris has focused his practice exclusively on representing individuals and families affected by serious injury, including families seeking accountability for nursing home abuse and neglect. In that time, Chris has helped dozens of families obtain justice for their loved ones and recovered over $15 Million for his clients harmed by nursing home negligence. Chris also obtained a jury verdict of $4 Million in Montgomery County Circuit Court on behalf of two daughters who lost their mother after an assisted living facility negligently allowed her to wander off (“elope”) from the facility one cold January day, causing her to be exposed to the elements for days and ultimately to pass from hypothermia.
Chris brings a broad litigation background to his representation of nursing home residents and their families. Before joining Brown & Barron, he spent nearly a decade as a prosecutor, representing victims and litigating serious felony cases, including homicides, sexual offenses, domestic violence, robberies, and other complex criminal matters. This experience provided him with extensive courtroom and trial exposure, a strong understanding of evidentiary rules, and substantial experience examining witnesses and presenting complex cases.
Following his service as a prosecutor, Chris joined a Baltimore-based civil defense firm, where he litigated thousands of cases throughout Maryland involving complex accidental injury and occupational disease litigation. His defense experience gave him valuable insight into how institutional and corporate defendants evaluate claims, assess litigation risk, prepare expert witnesses, and defend high-exposure cases. Chris now uses that experience to advocate for injured nursing home residents and their families.
Chris’s practice is particularly focused on helping families understand whether the care provided to a loved one was appropriate and whether nursing home abuse or neglect may have contributed to an injury or other harm. His litigation experience allows him to investigate complex claims, evaluate evidence, work with experts, and pursue accountability from institutional defendants when appropriate.
Chris represents clients in nursing home and other civil litigation matters throughout Maryland, including cases filed in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Harford County, Cecil County, Anne Arundel County, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Talbot County, Wicomico County, Worcester County, Charles County, and St. Mary's County.
Chris earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore School of Law and his Bachelor of Science in Economics and Criminology from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association and the Maryland Association for Justice, and participates in the nursing home litigation section of the MAJ.
Education
- University of Baltimore School of Law, J.D.
- University of Maryland, College Park, B.S.