A. Christopher Duran

Christopher Duran is a skilled litigator with over 27 years of experience representing both public and private sector clients in education law, labor and employment, and a variety of civil litigation matters. He practices primarily in the areas of public records, employee discipline, unfair labor practice, and employment discrimination.

Mr. Duran has a specialized expertise in the California Public Records Act (CPRA) and regularly advises, prepares comprehensive legal responses, processes large volumes of records, and defends public school districts concerning CPRA compliance issues. He also advises and assists district administrators on a variety of personnel issues, including certificated and classified discipline and workplace violence restraining orders. He has further successfully negotiated numerous permanent teacher, classified employee, and classified management dismissals.

Mr. Duran has represented school districts in the defense of writ of mandate cases filed under the CPRA. He has also represented school district clients for grievance arbitrations and unfair labor practice cases, which have usually resulted in favorable settlements or case dismissals. He has further represented and defended school districts on a variety of civil rights cases in both state and federal courts concerning allegations of discrimination based upon allegations of race, gender, and disability. He has achieved remarkable results with his motion practice, prevailing on several summary judgment motions and motions to dismiss.

Mr. Duran’s private sector experience includes eight years of civil litigation and insurance defense, including extensive trial and arbitration experience. He has obtained numerous successful arbitration awards, judgments, and settlements in defense of automobile, bad faith, and premises liability cases.

Mr. Duran has also provided training regarding CPRA law and compliance issues.

• In 2009, Mr. Duran was the lead attorney in a school district’s lawsuit against California’s State Allocation Board after the Board issued $2.9 million in penalties against the district. The Board alleged that the district made material inaccuracies in applications to the State for fund releases on multiple construction projects. Mr. Duran ultimately resolved the case with a $1.2 million settlement for the client.

Practice Areas

Community & Professional

• Fresno County Bar Association, Member