Chris N. Kolos
Partner
Chris N. Kolos
+1.407.244.1165
Overview
Chris N. Kolos is a partner in Holland & Knight's Orlando office. Mr. Kolos focuses his practice on the defense of products liability, toxic substance exposure cases, construction-related and many other types of personal injury cases. He has substantial experience defending cases involving exposure to asbestos and industrial chemicals. He also defends insurers in bad faith cases and litigates insurance coverage for both insurers and insureds. He has served as national coordinating counsel and regional trial counsel for several Fortune 500 companies in product liability matters.
Representative Experience
- Obtained the dismissal of a centrifuge manufacturer in a product liability case involving a terminally ill plaintiff for lack of in personam jurisdiction on the grounds that, consistent with recent Supreme Court precedent, the manufacturer was not "at home" in Florida even though it conducted substantial business activity in Florida, and therefore was not subject to "general jurisdiction" see Israel v. Alfa Laval, Inc., No. 8:20-cv-2133-02AAS, 2020 WL 7640730, at *3 (M.D. Fla. Dec. 23, 2020) and obtained a dismissal on an amended complaint holding that the same manufacturer was not subject to specific jurisdiction in Florida either because the manufacturer did not serve a market in Florida for products similar to those at issue. Israel v. Alfa Laval, No. 8:20cv2133-02AAS, 2021 WL 1662770 (M.D. Fla. April 28, 2021).
- Obtained dismissal of premises liability suit on grounds that allegations that a premises owner actively controlled or influenced the manner of work must be pled with particularity, that a premises owner is not responsible for alleged dangerous products brought upon its premises by invitees and that a plaintiff may not contradict prior sworn deposition testimony with sworn affidavit testimony without a credible explanation. Barnhart v. H&V Specialties, et al, 2017 WL 2495257 (Fla. Cir. Ct. 2017)
- Obtained the dismissal of a wrongful death suit for an alleged case of asbestos-induced lung cancer on the grounds that the statute of limitations had passed; the plaintiff failed to file an adequate sworn information form within the limitations period as required by the Asbestos and Silica Compensation Fairness Act - Moody v. Advance Stores, et al, 2014 WL 4210511 (Fla. 4th Cir. Ct. 2014)
- Obtained the dismissal of an aircraft manufacturer for lack of in personam jurisdiction on the grounds that the long-arm statute in effect at the time of the product's sale governs a product liability action, not the long-arm statute in effect when the plaintiff's cause of action accrued; thus, Florida's 1955 long-arm statute, which required "connexity" to Florida, barred the plaintiff's claims where the alleged exposure to the manufacturer's alleged asbestos containing aircraft parts occurred in Cuba - Estate of Peruyero v. Airbus, et al, 2014 WL 7734264 (S.D. Fla. 2014)
- Served as national coordinating counsel for a fungicide manufacturer facing more than 500 lawsuits nationwide
- Served as national coordinating discovery and expert retention counsel for a heavy duty truck manufacturer
- Served as regional trial counsel in an asbestos litigation for several motor vehicle manufacturers
- Successfully resolved a first of its kind breach of warranty/product liability action in federal court in favor of an electrical transformer manufacturer sued by a building owner over the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the transformers and the alleged health threat posed to building occupants
- Obtained a defense verdict in a mesothelioma case tried in Florida relative to automotive friction products
- Obtained a defense verdict while representing a major food manufacturer of an admittedly defective product on the grounds that the defect was not the legal cause of the damages sustained
- Awarded summary judgment in a mesothelioma case on the grounds that a parent corporation was not liable for the alleged negligent acts of its subsidiary
- Conducted a successful appeal that quashed an asbestos omnibus order which allowed for an accelerated trial of a living plaintiff with mesothelioma to be conducted within three months of the filing date and ordered the trial court to strictly enforce the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure with respect to a case being at issue and ready to be tried - Genuine Parts Company v. Parsons, 917 So. 2d 419 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2006)
- Awarded summary judgment upholding an assumption of the risk/release of liability clause
- Obtained dismissal of a punitive damages claim filed against an insurer in a bad faith case on grounds that the allegations failed to meet the legal threshold under Florida law. Moss v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company, 2017 WL 4676629 (M.D. Fla. 2017)
- Awarded summary judgment for an insurer in a declaratory judgment action holding that a vendor of a named insured is not an additional insured under a commercial general liability (CGL) policy where the vendor distributes and leases goods of the named insured but does not resell them
- Awarded summary judgment in a declaratory judgment action for an insurer against two co-insurers regarding priority of coverage and the duty to defend a mutual insured in a battle over "other insurance" clauses in the respective policies
- Awarded summary judgment for an insurer in a bad faith case establishing a rule that where an insurance company timely pays a claim but fails to meet nonmonetary conditions in an offer resulting in the loss of an opportunity to settle a claim filed against its insured that would exceed policy limits, that still does not establish bad faith as a matter of law
- Awarded summary judgment in a declaratory judgment action for an insurer based on the intentional acts/expected injury exclusion in a case alleging gross negligence which was “substantially certain” to result in injury
- Awarded summary judgment in a declaratory judgment action applying Florida law to a multistate/multirisk insurance policy issued in Ohio such as to bar the claim under Florida law – Wausau v. Baillie, 281 F. Supp. 2d 1307 (M.D. Fla. 2002)
- Awarded summary judgment for an insurer in a declaratory judgment action holding that despite the fact that a golf cart is a motor vehicle under the dangerous instrumentality doctrine, a golf cart is not an "auto" under a business auto policy – Bailey v. Netherlands Insurance Company, 615 F. Supp. 2d 1332 (M.D. Fla. 2009)
Credentials
Education
- Rutgers Law School, J.D.
- Rutgers University, B.A., Economics and Political Science, cum laude
Bar Admissions/Licenses
- Florida
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Memberships
- Defense Research Institute, Product Liability and Toxic Torts Committee
- Florida Defense Lawyers Association, Product Liability Committees
Honors & Awards
- Florida Legal Elite, Florida Trend magazine, 2016, 2018-2020, 2022
- The Best Lawyers in America guide, Orlando Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants Lawyer of the Year, 2022, 2024
- The Best Lawyers in America guide, Insurance Law, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants, Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants, Product Liability Litigation - Defendants, 2012-2025
- Florida Super Lawyers magazine, 2010-2024; Orlando Top 50, 2020-2022
- Holland & Knight Pro Bono All-Star, 2021
- Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit, Pro Bono Service Award, 2017
- Holland & Knight Public and Charitable Service All-Star, 2014
- Book Award, Commercial Paper for Highest Grade, Rutgers
- Rutgers Law Journal, Associate Editor
- Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated
- Guardian Ad Litem Award of Excellence, Orange County Bar Association, 2013
Spoken Languages
- English
- Greek