Chris Brinkley pairs an aerospace engineering background with a career in the courtroom, representing injured Oklahomans in product liability, tractor-trailer, and serious injury cases. He practices from Carr & Carr's Oklahoma City office and takes cases that turn on technical proof, from defective machinery to commercial truck wrecks. Clients hire Chris Brinkley when a case needs someone who can read an engineering report and cross-examine the expert who wrote it.
Chris Brinkley's Personal Injury Practice Focus
Chris handles car accident and injury claims for people hurt by unsafe products, negligent drivers, and preventable hazards. His concentration is product liability and crashes caused by tractor-trailers, two areas where the cause of an injury often hides inside a design, a component, or a company's safety records.
He also represents clients in catastrophic injury, traumatic brain injury, motorcycle, pedestrian, and premises liability matters. Each case gets the same technical scrutiny, whether the defendant is a manufacturer or a trucking company.
How an Engineering Background Strengthens Injury Cases
Chris earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Oklahoma before he studied law. His first legal job put that training to work, preparing attorneys to depose engineers in complex product cases.
That skill set shapes how he builds a claim today. He reads design specifications, failure analyses, and crash data the way opposing experts do, which lets him find the defect or the shortcut that caused a client's injury.
In tractor-trailer cases, that means examining maintenance logs, electronic control module data, and federal safety compliance. In product cases, it means tracing an injury back to a manufacturing flaw, a design choice, or a missing warning.
Oklahoma Injury Law Chris Applies for Clients
Oklahoma gives injury victims two years from the date of the accident to file most personal injury lawsuits, under 12 O.S. § 95(A)(3). Miss that deadline and the court will almost always dismiss the case, no matter how strong the evidence.
Oklahoma also follows modified comparative negligence with a 51% bar, set out in 23 O.S. §§ 13 and 14. A client who is 50% or less at fault can still recover, with the award reduced by their share of fault, while a client found 51% or more at fault recovers nothing.
Chris builds each case with these rules in mind, documenting fault and damages early so an insurer cannot shift blame onto the injured client.
Notable Case Results
Chris has litigated product liability and injury cases in state and federal courts across several states. Representative reported matters include:
- O'Bryan v. Synthes, Inc., 2015 WL 1220973 (S.D. W. Va. 2015)
- Home Buyers Warranty Corp. v. Hanna, 750 F.3d 427 (4th Cir. 2014)
- Eskridge v. Pacific Cycle, Inc., 556 F. App'x 182 (4th Cir. 2014)
- Thornsbury v. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., 231 W. Va. 676, 749 S.E.2d 569 (2013)
- Haynes v. DaimlerChrysler Corp., 2011 WL 2446572 (W. Va. 2011)
Results may vary. Prior case outcomes do not guarantee similar results.
Attorney Chris Brinkley's Education and Credentials
Chris graduated from the University of Tulsa College of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1994. He served as an editor of the Tulsa Journal of Comparative and International Law, earned the Zarrow Family Award for the highest grade in Oil and Gas Law, and was a member of the Phi Delta Phi legal honors fraternity. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Oklahoma in 1990.
He is admitted to practice in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Georgia, and West Virginia. That multi-state admission lets him take product cases that cross state lines, which product liability claims often do.
Chris belongs to the American Association for Justice, where he works with the Products Liability Section and the Attorneys Information Exchange Group and reviews articles for TRIAL Magazine. He is also a member of the Oklahoma Association for Justice and the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.
Beyond the Courtroom
Chris is an avid runner of 5Ks and half marathons and serves as Vice President of Yukon Runners and Walkers. He is the Central Oklahoma Ambassador for Ainsley's Angels of America, which helps people with special needs take part in endurance races using specialized racing wheelchairs and volunteer runners.
Away from running, Chris is a competitive racquetball player sponsored by Head and a longtime supporter of ballet. He has performed in The Charleston Ballet's production of The Nutcracker and serves on the Associate Board of the Oklahoma City Ballet.
FAQs: Chris Brinkley, Oklahoma City Personal Injury Attorney
Here are answers to the questions people ask most often before bringing an injury claim to Chris.
How long do I have to file an injury claim in Oklahoma?
Most personal injury claims carry a two-year deadline from the date of the accident, under 12 O.S. § 95(A)(3). Wrongful death and certain other claims follow different timelines, so an early case review protects your right to file.
What happens if I was partly at fault for the accident?
Oklahoma lets you recover as long as you are 50% or less at fault, though your award drops by your percentage of fault. If you are found 51% or more responsible, you recover nothing, which is why insurers push to raise your share of the blame.
What types of injury cases does Chris handle?
Chris focuses on product liability and tractor-trailer cases and also takes car accident, catastrophic injury, brain injury, motorcycle, pedestrian, and premises liability claims. Cases that hinge on technical or engineering questions fit his background well.
Why does an engineering background matter in a product liability case?
A product case usually turns on a design choice, a component failure, or a missing warning rather than on what a witness saw. Chris reads the design specifications and failure analyses himself, which shapes what gets requested in discovery and how the opposing expert is questioned at deposition.
What evidence should I preserve after a truck wreck or a product injury?
Keep the product itself, its packaging, manuals, and receipts, and do not let anyone repair or discard it. In a truck case, the electronic control module data and the carrier's maintenance logs matter most, and both can be overwritten or cycled out, so a preservation letter should go out early.
Does it cost anything to hire Chris?
Carr & Carr handles injury cases on a contingency basis, so there is no fee unless the firm wins your case. Consultations are free, which lets you learn where your claim stands at no cost.
Bring Your Injury Claim to Chris
A serious injury case is easier to win when the evidence is preserved early and the deadlines are met. Schedule a consultation with Chris to review your crash, your product injury, or your denied claim.
Injured in Oklahoma? Schedule a consultation with Chris by calling Carr & Carr's Oklahoma City office at (405) 691-1600 or the Tulsa-Midtown office at (918) 747-1000 for a free consultation.