Christopher Slaughter Bio

Chris Slaughter is the CEO of Steptoe & Johnson. He was elected to the position in 2020. For over 25 years, Chris represented large and small employers in labor and employment law matters. He negotiated labor contracts with many different unions in industries including construction, energy, health care, hospitality, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and municipal government. Chris tried cases in state and federal courts, before administrative agencies, and before arbitrators. He advised employers concerning labor and employment law liabilities in mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. He conducted sensitive investigations, and he assisted with corporate downsizing, facility closures, and reductions in force. He also represented clients on-site in the aftermath of serious workplace accidents and fatalities, and helped them navigate labor union organizing campaigns, strikes, and violent picketing. As CEO of Steptoe & Johnson, Chris has driven the Firm’s strategic growth, opening five new offices in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas since 2020. In that time, the Firm has significantly outpaced the Am Law 100-200 cohort of U.S. law firms in both revenue growth and lawyer headcount growth, all while increasing the Firm’s net income. This growth has broadened and deepened the Firm’s capabilities in many areas critical to the success of the Firm’s clients. Chris often says, “culture is job one for me.” He is devoted to ensuring the Firm maintains its core values in both legacy and new offices. “We have been blessed with a cultural inheritance that is at once focused on excellence in all we do, and on treating one another well. We will strengthen our culture as we grow, not dilute it.” Chris is named among The Best Lawyers in America® and Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. He is a fellow of both the West Virginia Bar Foundation and the American College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He has served on and chaired the boards of several economic development, charitable, and community arts organizations, and held leadership roles in his church. Chris and his wife, Nicole, a Swiss citizen who was born and raised in Africa, have four adult children and live in Culloden, West Virginia. They love to go on road trips together, searching the highways and byways of America for interesting sites and good food, and meeting new people.