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He might not have known it at the time, but Christopher Gruber started his legal journey on a family farm two hours west of Omaha, Nebraska. Growing up as a farm kid, he learned about something that both farmers and lawyers should be proficient at—navigating risk.
“Farming is unique in a sense that there’s significant risks out there that you can’t control like the weather, and also risks with regards to what the markets are doing with the product your selling,” Gruber reflects. “Through that, I learned about analyzing both known and unknown risks, and that’s helped me throughout my career to better serve my clients because that’s really what us as lawyers are doing, analyzing multiple points of risk to provide advice to our clients.
“It could be how much we can recover, what’s the likelihood, how it affects the business going forward, what it’s going to cost to seek recovery, and more,” he continues. “It’s our job to stay calm, minimize emotion, and look at the big picture with the information available to us to determine the best course of action for the client or company.”
That’s the mentality Gruber brought to Union Pacific Railroad in 2021 after working in private practice for over five years. As an assistant general attorney on the commercial litigation team, he handles disputes involving real estate, telecommunications, contract, and property damage for and against the company, either acting directly as trial counsel or in support of outside counsel.
Coming into the role, Gruber admits that he had some adjustments to make to his leadership style and approach to teamwork.
“When I started, I realized that in an in-house environment, you have to navigate working on multiple teams. I had never worked in a big organization, so there was a learning curve on managing people within larger teams,” he says. “When it comes to managing people, I’ve tried to hone my style to help other people on achieve their goals and get what they want out of their career.”
Today, he empowers his team to take ownership over their work and their development while providing support when necessary.
“I try not to be one of those people who micromanages because it’s very hard on the people you’re working with. We’re all very capable people and we do things differently,” Gruber explains. “Even though lawyers can inherently be the kind of people who want things done their way, that doesn’t mean it’s the only way. I try to remind myself to allow people to do things in ways that work for them if they’re getting results.”
He also got a chance to learn the language of lawyers, understand court filings, and explore various areas of the law while earning his degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. That strong foundation prepared him for his next challenge at Keating, O’Gara, Nedved & Peter, where he was pushed to go beyond what he’d learned.
“Even though lawyers can inherently be the kind of people who want things done their way, that doesn’t mean it’s the only way. I try to remind myself to allow people to do things in ways that work for them if they’re getting results.”
Christopher Gruber
“Starting off as a law clerk, I worked under a mentor who really pushed me outside my comfort zone to become a trial lawyer. I first-chaired a jury trial in district court within three months of getting my law license,” he says. “I remember asking for his help while I was preparing and him saying, with the client’s permission of course, ‘You need to figure this out on your own.’ That really drove me to prepare and understand what risks to take in pressure-packed moment.”
Gruber says that young attorneys who want to be successful in their careers should get as much experience as they can in a wide variety of legal areas and find a mentor that encourages them outside their comfort zone in a positive way.
“The best mentors challenge and don’t sugarcoat mistakes, but provide support when mistakes happen. A lot of us are always pushing for more, wanting that next promotion or to make partner and just are never content. But it’s important to enjoy the people you work with, represent, and the disputes. Try not to always be looking for what’s next, and the results will naturally follow,” he says.
“Chris took over an extensive portfolio of cases at UP. He has filled the role admirably, making invaluable contributions to UP. He is an exceptional attorney who learns quickly and makes wise strategic decisions.”
–Michael Wallenstein, Partner
