Christopher A. Viadro

Christopher Viadro is a partner at Butler Viadro, LLP. He litigates catastrophic personal injury cases primarily arising from industrial accidents, dangerous premises, defective products, maritime accidents, elevator accidents, refinery accidents and auto accidents, as well as professional negligence matters. Mr. Viadro simultaneously litigates workers' compensation cases where present. Many of his clients are injured union workers, e.g. boilermakers, elevator constructors/mechanics, cement masons, operating engineers, hod carriers, sheet metal workers, carpenters, ironworkers, laborers and electricians, plumbers and pipe fitters, teamsters, millwrights and sprinkler fitters among others.

Mr. Viadro was admitted to the California Bar in 1992 and to the U.S. District Courts in the Northern, Central, Eastern, and Southern Districts of California in the following year. He serves on the board of governors of The University of San Francisco School of Law (2010-present). He has been the board's president from 2016-2018. He also serves on the board of directors of the California Applicants’ Attorneys Association (2012-present). He previously served on the board of governors of the Alameda/Contra Costa County Trial Lawyers Association (2002-07) and the board of directors of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association (2001-2011). He is also a member of the Consumer Attorneys of California and The American Association for Justice. Mr. Viadro previously served as an Early Settlement Conference Panelist for the San Francisco Superior Court and a fee dispute arbitrator for the Bar Association of San Francisco. He previously was the International Liaison for the United States for the International Network of Boutique Law Firms.

In 2007, the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association nominated him for its Trial Lawyer of the Year Award. Mr. Viadro is AV Preeminent peer-review rated,* the highest rating, through Martindale-Hubbell. (The "A" represents a rating of "Very high to preeminent" with regard to legal ability and the "V" represents a "Very high" with regard to general ethical standards.) Mr. Viadro has been selected for inclusion in California Super Lawyers since 2010 (only 5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by Super Lawyers).

Mr. Viadro has authored numerous articles profiling San Francisco and Alameda County superior court judges in The Verdict and The Trial Lawyer magazines. He authored "Minimizing the Workers' Compensation Carrier's Reimbursement Claim" Forum, September 2005 and has also co-authored other articles including "Avoiding Malpractice with C.C.P. 998: A Review of Deocampo v. Ann," Forum, December 2003; "Reconciling the Rift in American Judicial Treatment of the Qualified Pollution Exclusion," International Insurance Law Review (1994, Vol. 2, Issue 4); and "The 1992 Survey of Non-profit Case Law," U.S.F. Law Review. Mr. Viadro frequently lectures on various topics pertaining to third party lawsuits and the interplay workers' compensation law.

Mr. Viadro started his practice as an insurance defense litigator, learning the "ins and outs" of the defense bar. In 1995, Mr. Viadro began to represent personal injury victims and immediately found it more rewarding to represent the injured and aggrieved rather than defend against their lawsuits. He joined The Veen Firm, P.C., in 1996, where he later served as a trial team leader until co-founding Butler Viadro, LLP, in 2009.

Mr. Viadro graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Law cum laude and was a member of the McAuliffe Honor Society (top 10 percent of class); he received his Juris Doctorate degree in 1992. Mr. Viadro also received American Jurisprudence Awards in Torts and Constitutional Law and was awarded Best Brief during the School's Moot Court Competition. He was a member of both the U.S.F. Maritime Law Journal and the U.S.F. Law Review. He also tutored other students through the U.S.F. Academic Support Program.