Christian Gunneson is a Partner in Freeman Mathis & Gary LLP’s Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale offices and is a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment, Insurance Coverage and Extra-Contractual Liability, Commercial Litigation/Directors & Officers, and Professional Liability/Errors & Omissions National Practice Sections. He serves as Vice-Chair of the Firm’s Restrictive Covenants practice team and Vice-Chair of the Firm’s Southeast Coverage practice team.

Mr. Gunneson focuses his practice on representing management in labor and employment disputes. He has experience representing employers in discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation, FMLA, ADA, wage and hour (class action and single plaintiff), trade secret, and non-compete disputes. He regularly appears before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Florida Commission on Human Relations, Florida’s Department of Administrative Hearings, the National Labor Relations Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Department of Labor. As part of his practice, Mr. Gunneson also provides counsel to employers in various aspects of the employer-employee relationship including personnel policies and practices, employee discipline and terminations, leave management and accommodations, and wage-and-hour compliance.

Mr. Gunneson also has experience representing domestic insurers and London syndicates in a variety of first and third party coverage disputes arising under errors and omissions (lawyers, agents, accountants, and miscellaneous professionals), employment practices, automobile/UIM, residential and commercial property, commercial general liability, multiline, and manuscript forms. He regularly counsels clients throughout the claim handling process and has experience pursuing declaratory judgment and contribution actions. 

In addition to his employment and insurance coverage practice, he maintains an active commercial litigation practice, representing clients in contract disputes and single plaintiff and class consumer claims brough under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, among others. Mr. Gunneson also has experience representing attorneys, insurance brokers and agents, surveyors, real estate agents, management companies, and other professionals in professional liability matters.

While in law school, Mr. Gunneson served as a judicial extern in the chambers of the Honorable Dominic J. Squatrito (dec.), Senior District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut and as a judicial extern in the chambers of the Honorable Howard T. Owens, Jr. (dec.) Judge of the Connecticut Superior Court.

Connecticut

Florida

United States District Court for District of Colorado

United States District Court for the District of Connecticut

United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida

United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

“Depositions and Discovery,” Florida Civil Practice Before Trial (16th ed.)

“Revisiting Koikos: The Eleventh Circuit re-interprets the word ‘occurrence’,” FMG BlogLine, 2025

“Website Accessibility Problems Create Legal Peril for Online Retailers,” Quoted in Digital Commerce 360

“Waivers and Extreme Sports: Do You ‘Waive Goodbye’ To Your Rights?,” Sports Litigation Alert

“Why Fast Food Bans are the Wrong Solution to Address America’s Obesity Problem and What Should Be Done Instead,” 15 Quinnipiac Health Law Journal 209

• Successfully persuaded Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal to reverse a lower court’s order granting plaintiff’s motion to amend its complaint for punitive damages.
• Secured a complete dismissal of all federal and state constitutional and employment claims brought by a police chief against a police board of commissioners.
• Secured a victory at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of a municipality in connection with plaintiff’s age and national origin discrimination claims.
• Secured an appellate level reversal of a trial court judgment by successfully arguing that the trial court incorrectly found that Florida’s statutory abrogation of joint and several liability did not apply retroactively.
• Obtained dismissal with prejudice of claims brought against an insurance agency by Florida’s “insurer of last resort” who had argued that it could subrogate and seek damages against the agency for negligence. Successfully argued that the insurer of last resort was not statutorily authorized to prosecute claims.
• Secured a complete dismissal (affirmed on appeal) of plaintiff’s claimed multi-million-dollar losses by successfully arguing that they were barred by Connecticut’s workers’ compensation exclusivity scheme.

Professional Liability Defense Federation

Claims and Litigation Management Alliance

Employment Law Section of the Florida Bar

Business Law Section of the Florida Bar

Connecticut Bar Association, Young Lawyers’ Section, Co-Chair, Insurance Law Committee, 2013-2014

Hillsborough County Bar Association

American Bar Association

Federal Bar Association

Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch recognition for Insurance Law in Tampa, FL (2023 – 2024)

Certified Litigation Management Professional by the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (2023)

Named a Florida Super Lawyers “Rising Star” (2016 – 2022, 2024-2025)

Hillsborough County Bar Association Bar Leadership Institute (2019 – 2020)

Distinguished Academic Achievement Award, Contracts

Oberst Mock Trial Award

“Beyond the Policy -Preventing & Managing Extra-Contractual Claims,” PLUS Conference, November 2025.

“Wage and Hour Series Part I: FLSA Introduction and Discussion and Key State Law Updates,” FMG Webinar (2025)