Chris Skey is a member of DLA Piper's Litigation group, handling energy, environmental, and other business-related litigation and regulatory matters.

Mr. Skey has over a decade of experience handling complex energy matters on behalf of competitive energy suppliers, large energy users, energy cooperatives, municipalities, trade groups, and other energy market participants. In addition to energy-related matters, he has broad experience with environmental, natural resource, constitutional and commercial matters, including construction, antitrust, securities, insurance, trade secrets, restrictive covenants, employment, fraud, product liability, copyright, contracts and other business-related matters. In addition to his representation of energy-related clients of all sorts, Mr. Skey has represented lenders, accounting firms, large and small municipalities and groups of municipalities, financial services firms, pharmaceutical firms, food and beverage firms, engineering firms, industrial manufacturers, construction firms, real estate developers, consultants, marketing firms, insurance companies, small businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals.

Mr. Skey maintains an active pro bono practice. He serves on the board of directors of the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation, an organization that promotes, coordinates and supports pro bono representation of individual clients in and around Chicago by members of the legal community. He also serves as CVLS's Vice President for Development. Additionally, Mr. Skey serves on DLA Piper's US National Pro Bono Committee as well as the Chicago Office Pro Bono Committee. He is actively involved in a range of public interest and pro bono work and was recognized with DLA Piper's 2008 National Pro Bono Senior Associate of the Year award. In 2007, he was chosen as the Chicago Office Pro Bono Senior Associate of the Year.

Mr. Skey has handled a number of energy-related matters on a pro bono basis, including recent matters on behalf of a shelter for AIDS patients and homeless people operated by the Alexian Brothers AIDS Ministry, and on behalf of Jane Addams Development Corporation. Additionally, Mr. Skey is a volunteer at the Asian Legal Service Clinic, a clinic that DLA Piper has run in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood for many years. He regularly handles cases for individual clinic clients, most recently representing a woman who was defrauded out of money during her divorce proceeding; a tenant in a fire-damaged building who was initially denied the return of her security deposit; and a small businessman involved in a restaurant repair dispute. Mr. Skey has also volunteered at DLA Piper's Woodlawn Legal Clinic on Chicago’s south side, most recently obtaining dismissal of a paternity suit brought by a man with a criminal history of harassment.

In addition to his energy-related and clinic-related work, current and recent pro bono matters include federal court class action litigation on behalf of Children's Rights/Nebraska Appleseed Center for the Public Interest; appellate, trial and administrative work on behalf of The Newberry Library; federal court litigation on behalf of The Greater Chicago Food Depository; appellate amicus work on behalf of The Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence; and criminal defense of a juvenile charged as an adult for a weapons offense, as well as juvenile defense trial work and policy research on behalf of DLA Piper's pro bono signature project in juvenile justice. Mr. Skey was previously a member of the team engaged in an international global warming mitigation project through New Perimeter, DLA Piper’s nonprofit affiliate established to provide pro bono legal support for projects of global concern.

Mr. Skey serves as a volunteer teacher at Barry Elementary School and previously taught at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center through the Lawyers in the Classroom program sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago. He previously served as an instructor of the "Introduction to Legal Learning" course sponsored by the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and offered to incoming law students at Northwestern University School of Law. He also Mr. Skey participates as a writing coach in DLA Piper's summer associate program.

Mr. Skey formerly served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Steven D. Merryday, US District Judge, Middle District of Florida. He is admitted to practice in both Illinois and Florida.

Outside of the office, Mr. Skey enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, coaching youth soccer, and kayaking on Lake Michigan and other interesting bodies of water.

Recently reported cases include:

• United States v. All Meat and Poultry Products Stored at LaGrou Cold Storage, 407 F. Supp. 2d 823 (N.D. Ill. 2007)
• Schindler v. Cequent Consumer Products, Inc., 2006 WL 2062099 (E.D. Mo. 2006)
• Mercury Skyline Yacht Charters v. The Dave Matthews Band, Inc., 2005 WL 3159680 (N.D. Ill. 2005)
• Roadway Express v. Juedes, 2004 WL 2423811 (N.D. Ill. 2004)
• BDO Seidman, LLP v. Harris, 885 N.E.2d 470 (Ill. App. Ct. 2008)
• Strategic Energy, LLC v. Illinois Commerce Commission, 860 N.E.2d 361 (Ill. App. Ct. 2006)
• MidAmerican Energy Company v. Illinois Commerce Commission, 854 N.E.2d 238 (Ill. App. Ct. 2006)
• Illinois Commerce Commission v. Entergy-Koch Trading, LP, 841 N.E.2d 27 (Ill. App. Ct. 2005)
• Illinois Commerce Commission v. Commonwealth Edison Company, 2010 WL 1868316 (Ill. Commerce Comm'n 2010)
• Re Northern Illinois Gas Company dba Nicor, 2009 WL 1532999 (Ill. Commerce Comm'n 2009)
• Re Commonwealth Edison Company, 2008 WL 4489072 (Ill. Commerce Comm'n 2008)
• Re Interstate Power and Light Company, 2007 WL 4754232 (Ill. Commerce Comm'n 2007)
• Re Interstate Power and Light Company, 2007 WL 1794929 (Ill. Commerce Comm'n 2007)
• Re South Beloit Water, Gas and Electric Company, 2007 WL 1794930 (Ill. Commerce Comm'n 2007)