Vermont trial lawyer Chris Maley has extensive experience in the area of medical malpractice and personal injury. Chris represents individuals who have been seriously injured and the families of those who have been killed in accidents or due to medical malpractice.

He is a has earned the recognition of his peers, receiving Martindale Hubbell’s highest attorney rating of AV Preeminent®, and is listed annually in the publication The Best Lawyers in America® since 2007 in the categories of Medical Malpractice Law and Personal Injury Litigation.

Chris has been named the 2018 “Lawyer of the Year” for Medical Malpractice Law – Burlington, VT. He is the only plaintiff lawyer in Vermont to receive this distinction for medical malpractice.

He has earned the additional distinction of being the only Vermont plaintiff attorney selected by Best Lawyers® as the 2016 “Lawyer of the Year” for Personal Injury Litigation, and the 2015 “Lawyer of the Year” for Medical Malpractice Law.

Chris has also been elected to be a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. The Fellows is an honorary organization of attorneys, judges, law faculty, and legal scholars who have been elected by their peers to become members of The Fellows. They have demonstrated outstanding achievements and dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession. Membership in The Fellows is limited to one percent of the lawyers admitted to practice in each jurisdiction of the United States. Additionally, New England Super Lawyers® magazine lists Chris as a top-rated medical malpractice attorney in its most recent edition.

Chris was born in Burlington, Vermont. He graduated cum laude from St. Lawrence University in 1993 and Suffolk University Law School in 1996. At Suffolk, he was a recipient of an American Jurisprudence Award and was a member and an editor of the Transnational Law Review.

Chris was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1996 and practiced in Boston at the law firm of Martin, Magnuson, McCarthy & Kenney for six years primarily in the area of medical malpractice before being admitted to the Vermont Bar in 2002. Prior to founding Maley and Maley, Chris was a partner with Sylvester & Maley, Inc. in Burlington, Vermont. Chris was also admitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in 1997, and the United States Court of Federal Claims in 2001.

Maley and Maley, PLLC

Maley and Maley, PLLC was founded in Burlington, Vermont, in 2013 by the father-and-son team of John and Chris Maley. Prior to forming their new firm, the Maleys worked together in Burlington for 12 years at the former personal injury and medical malpractice law firm Sylvester & Maley, Inc.

John has 49 years experience as a Vermont trial attorney and Chris has 20 years experience as a trial attorney. John was one of the founding partners of Sylvester & Maley in 1975. John has represented thousands of Vermonters and tried cases all over the state. Chris started his career working in Boston for a medical malpractice defense firm. For more than 6 years he represented hospitals, physicians and nurses. Since 2002, Chris has worked in his home town of Burlington only representing plaintiffs.

John and Chris have had the pleasure of trying cases together as well as working as a team to bring significant cases to resolution at mediation and arbitration. Their most recent jury trial together was August 2013 in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, a case that they won.

The Maleys’ commitment to helping injured Vermonters and the respect of their peers is evidenced by the leadership and honorary positions their fellow attorneys have elected them to hold. For the 2013-2014 term, Chris was the president of the Vermont Association for Justice (formerly the Vermont Trial Lawyers Association), an association of about 250 Vermont plaintiff personal injury attorneys. John is a fellow of the American College of Trial Attorneys. Currently there are only 19 practicing attorneys in Vermont who have been inducted into the American College of Trial Attorneys and only five of whom regularly represent plaintiffs. Chris and John are two of only six total attorneys in Vermont who are listed in Best Lawyers in Vermont for 2014 for plaintiffs medical malpractice.