Christopher P. Boyle

Christopher provides legal counsel to municipalities, police departments and private employers. He handles claims involving civil rights, municipal liability, and employment law and their attendant litigation. As a former state-certified instructor, Chris is also a nationally recognized law enforcement expert, frequently called upon to deliver seminars and other training to municipalities, police departments and insurers on a variety of topics including risk management, police pursuits, search and seizure, racial profiling, the Americans with Disabilities Act, hiring practices, Pennsylvania's Right to Know Act and police shootings.

Chris graduated with a B.B.A. from Temple University in 1989. Following graduation, he worked for the Philadelphia Police Department for 16 years, holding positions as a patrol officer, detective, narcotics officer, instructor at the Philadelphia Police Academy and Department Advocate. He was a certified instructor for municipal police officers in both academic areas and emergency vehicle operations, and served as a member of the Curriculum Committee on the Municipal Police Officers Education and Training Committee. He was twice decorated by the Department for meritorious service and attained the rank of Lieutenant before his retirement.

As part of his practice, Chris routinely reviews police policies and procedures regarding pursuits, search and seizure, the use of force and other law enforcement topics. A contributing editor to The BULLETIN, the quarterly publication of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, he is frequently called upon to present seminars and training to law enforcement and insurance professionals on topics from liability and defenses, to racial profiling and in-custody deaths. His expertise has also been utilized by numerous clients to review incident-specific information and police response, even prior to the initiation of a suit. These post-incident critiques are utilized both to identify training and policy needs, and in preparation for potential litigation.

He attended Temple University School of Law in the evening while working full time for the Police Department, graduating in 2004. While at Temple Law, Chris served as a staff editor and eventually as editor-in-chief of the Temple Environmental Law and Technology Journal. He is a two-time recipient of the Barrister's Award for Trial Advocacy and won the Golden Prize at graduation for outstanding research and writing. Chris joined Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin in May of 2005 as an associate in the King of Prussia office, and has been a Shareholder in the Professional Liability Department since 2013.

Honors & awards

Pennsylvania Super Lawyer
2017-2019

Pennsylvania Super Lawyer Rising Star
2013-2014

Year joined

2005

Results

Summary judgment in excessive force case.

Public Entity and Civil Rights Litigation
July 25, 2019

We obtained summary judgment on behalf of four police officers accused of excessive force. An 87-year-old woman called 911 when she saw the plaintiff, whom she did not know, sitting in his car in her driveway. The four officers arrived to investigate the clearly intoxicated man, who refused to cooperate by providing his name. Instead, he identified himself only as Child of God. During the course of his subsequent arrest, he bit one of the officers and resisted arrest, leading to his conviction on several counts, including possession of the methamphetamine found in his pocket.

Successful Defense of Police Department and Detectives in Civil Rights Lawsuit.

Public Entity and Civil Rights Litigation
December 31, 2018

We obtained dismissal of our clients, a local police department and two of its detectives, on a motion to dismiss. The plaintiff, who had been acquitted of the sexual assault of an emotionally disturbed teenage girl, sued the detectives and their department, alleging the detectives should not have arrested him, even in the face of an identification of him as the rapist, his own inconsistent statements, and documentation that he and his victim had checked into a local motel on the date of one of the assaults.

Summary Judgment for School District in Fatal Auto Accident Case.

School Leaders Liability
August 24, 2018

We obtained summary judgment on behalf of a school district in a fatal automobile accident where a high school student was struck and killed by a third party while crossing the street to board her school bus. The striking driver, also a student at the high school, was found criminally liable and sentenced to a prison term, but was not sued by the estate.

Marshall Dennehey Attorneys Obtained Dismissal of a Police Department and Six of Its Officers in Civil Rights Case

Public Entity and Civil Rights Litigation
December 1, 2017

The plaintiff was engaged in a drug transaction on the street when uniformed officers who were watching approached him from a block away. When the plaintiff jumped into his car and sped away through residential streets in the middle of the day, the officers wisely abandoned the pursuit and obtained an arrest warrant for the plaintiff. After his acquittal, the plaintiff brought a malicious prosecution claim against the officers.

Plaintiffs Civil Rights Claim Goes Up In Smoke

Public Entity and Civil Rights Litigation
August 25, 2016

Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a chief of campus security, a private university and two security guards. The campus security guards responded to a Resident Assistant's complaint of a strong smell of marijuana coming from the plaintiff's dormitory room. Following procedures in the university handbook, they searched the room. The plaintiff asked to use the bathroom during the search, was permitted to do so and promptly left the Commonwealth in his pajamas. He was arrested in New York and eventually pled guilty to the possession of various narcotics and paraphernalia.

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Thought Leadership

Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin Elects New Shareholders

December 14, 2012
Philadelphia, PA - Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin is pleased to announce that the following 13 attorneys were elected shareholders at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on December 11, 2012: Christoph

Scott Dunlop and Paul Krepps (Pittsburgh, PA) and Christopher Boyle (King of Prussia, PA) presented a Leadership Course for Law Enforcement Executives

January 12, 2012
Scott Dunlop and Paul Krepps (Pittsburgh, PA) and Christopher Boyle (King of Prussia, PA) presented a Leadership Course for Law Enforcement Executives in Monroeville, PA and in Hatboro, PA for the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Po

National Consensus Policy on the Use of Force

King of Prussia
Public Entity and Civil Rights Litigation
March 20, 2017

Third Circuit sends crystal clear advice to law enforcement when it comes to tracking through GPS: Get a warrant!

Public Entity and Civil Rights Litigation
January 6, 2015
FBI agents investigating multiple pharmacy burglaries installed a GPS tracker on the van of the Katzin brothers. The warrantless surveillance led to evidence of the involvement of brothers Harry, Michael and Mark Katzin in the burglaries. Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, January 2015

Amendments to Pennsylvanias Safe Haven Law (Act 2014-91)

King of Prussia
Public Entity and Civil Rights Litigation
October 1, 2014

“Reversing” an Overdose - Law Enforcement and Narcan

King of Prussia
Public Entity and Civil Rights Litigation
June 23, 2014

The Law Enforcement Client

King of Prussia
Public Entity and Civil Rights Litigation
December 1, 2012

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Classes/Seminars Taught

Municipal Liability in Police Pursuits After Sellers v. Abington , Pennsylvania Association of Defense Counsel, July 2015

Civil Litigation Boot Camp for New Police Chiefs, Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association's Centennial Education Training Conference, July 14, 2014

Train the Trainers Program, Municipal Police Officer Education and Training Commission

Racial Profiling Course, Whitemarsh Township

Current Issues In Municipal Liability, Insurance Industry Seminar

Pennsylvania's Right To Know Act, Montgomery County, Bucks County and Chester County Chiefs of Police

Advanced Constitutional Law Seminar, Rutgers University School of Law

Municipal Liability, Pennsylvania Association of Township Supervisors, Allegheny, Cumberland and Montgomery Counties

Police Liability for Police Supervisors, Montgomery County Pennsylvania, quarterly

Pennsylvania's Right to Know Act, Delaware Valley Insurance Trust

Pennsylvania Right To Know Act for Law Enforcement Executives, Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Conference, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Open Carry in Pennsylvania, Chester County Chiefs of Police, 2012

Legal Updates for Law Enforcement Executives, Missouri Chiefs of Police, 2012

Current Liability Issues for Law Enforcement in Dauphin, Lancaster, Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and Philadelphia Counties, Yearly