Biography
AV Rated Martindale Hubbell
Best Lawyers 2020-2024
Lawyer of the Year, Arbitration, Hartford, 2022
Lawyer of the Year, Mediation, Hartford, 2021
Super Lawyers 2019-2024
Informal Bio:
In 2017, I opened Kalon, an innovative law firm built on a business model that is now the norm – cloud-based platforms and on-line conferencing. Although for the first twenty-years of my career my focus was civil litigation at the trial and appellate levels, now my practice is serving as a mediator or arbitrator, helping people resolve their conflicts, especially by helping them create value through exploring interests and expanding options. I have given several presentations on mediation, negotiation, and advocacy. I have also been recognized by Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers, most recently as a Top 50 Lawyers, in Connecticut, Super Lawyers, for my mediation work. Since 2022 I have taught as an adjunct the ADR class and UConn Law School and before that I was an adjunct for eleven years teaching moot court.
Unlike many mediators, I have training on how to mediate cases, including workshops at Harvard Law School’s Advanced Mediation Workshop, Program on Negotiation and the Quinnipiac School of Law’s Center on Dispute Resolution. I also serve as an Attorney Trial Referee, Fact Finder, and Arbitrator in the Hartford Superior Court and a Special Master at the District Court, Connecticut.
My ADR work is open to all areas of civil litigation. My stance is that a mediator needs expertise in the process of mediation and the lawyers need expertise in their practice areas. Excellent lawyers can educate the mediator on their cases and the law; Excellent mediators can then apply their process to help the parties reach an agreement. I shift my process from facilitative to evaluative, and sometime narrative, depending on the conflict dynamics.
Formal Bio:
Attorney Christopher P. Kriesen is the founder and principal of the Kalon Law Firm, LLC. He formed the firm in 2017 to fulfill his vision of a better way to practice law, serve clients, and promote social good through entrepreneurship. He is recognized by his peers, who selected him to Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers, including Lawyer of the Year, Hartford, for Mediation in 2021 and for Arbitration in 2022. He is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell.
He is a trained mediator (Harvard Law School, Advanced Mediation Workshop, Program on Negotiation and the Quinnipiac School of Law Center on Dispute Resolution). He serves as an Attorney Trial Referee, Fact Finder, and Arbitrator in the Hartford Superior Court and a Special Master at the District Court, Connecticut..
He is a strategic, innovative thinker; a seeker of efficient, favorable resolutions; and a persistent advocate for his clients.
Attorney Kriesen has handled cases in State and Federal Court, has argued appeals before Connecticut’s Appellate and Supreme Courts, and has helped prepare amicus briefs on cases raising issues of first impression before the Supreme Court.
Attorney Kriesen completed the Harvard Business School | HBX course “Disruptive Strategy” with Clayton Christensen, using the HBS case method to learn how to apply disruption theory to find and execute business and social opportunities. He expanded upon his studies by completing a one-year, eight class program on innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Kalon’s model is based upon what he learned in these programs.
He completed a six class program in Strategic Decision Making and Risk Management offered by Stanford University’s Center for Professional Development.
He has attended The Yale Writers Workshop, is an adherent of the Story Model of advocacy, and is writing a book on the theory, “Legal Storytelling.“ He has been invited several times to be a storyteller at Speak Up events, including a performance to an audience of 500 people at Infinity Hall.
He has taught advocacy to students at the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is an active presenter at legal seminars for other lawyers and a mentor to law students and young lawyers.
He established the Kalon Fellowship, the Salons, Workshops, and The Kalon ADR Center, making Kalon unique among peer firms in promoting social good.
Prior to Kalon, he was a partner at a law firm in Hartford, where he was the manager of the insurance defense practice. He has practiced law for over twenty years.
Christopher P. Kriesen at Dot, Mediate.com, Brandyourself.com, LinkedIn, Avvo, Justia, US News, Lawyer.com, USAttorneys.com, Arbitrate.com, Why Become a Lawyer, Twitter.
Attorney Kriesen holds an A.V. Rating with the peer review process of Martindale-Hubbell and is recognized by Super Lawyers 2019-2024 and Best Lawyers 2020-2024.
Education
Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiation (Executive Education)
Negotiation and Dispute Resolution Seminar (2020)
A twenty-three hour seminar for negotiators focusing on negotiation to create optimal resolutions to disputes.
Advanced Mediation Workshop (2018)
The Advanced Mediation Workshop of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School is a five-day, forty-hour training for mediators taught by a team of thought leaders and practitioners. The workshop focuses on creating fair, sustainable agreements by identifying party interests, proposing options, and creating value.
Stanford University Graduate School of Business (Executive Education)
LEAD Certificate: Corporate Innovation (Learn Engage Accelerate Disrupt) (2017). A one-year, eight class program in innovation. Intellectual Contribution Award in Critical Analytical Thinking Class.
Stanford University
Center for Professional Development: Strategic Decision and Risk Management Certificate (2016)
Trinity College
M.A., with Distinction (Writing, Rhetoric, and Media Arts) (2013); Thesis: Wrestling with the Sophists, An Encomium of Lawyers
University of Connecticut School of Law
Villanova University
B.Sc. cum laude (1988)
Admitted to Practice
Connecticut (1993)
United States District Court, D. Connecticut (2008)
Second Circuit (2020)
THE KALON LAW FIRM. LLC