Chris Olson, a civil rights attorney with Olson Law, PLLC, was recognized by North Carolina Lawyers Weekly in its annual listing of the state’s largest verdicts and settlements. Olson claimed the #2 spot for the 2024 list with the $25 million recovery in the wrongful incarceration lawsuit which Olson filed on behalf of Mr. Ronnie Long.
After assisting the Duke Wrongful Convictions Clinic with exoneration efforts on behalf of Ronnie Long, Olson then undertook the civil rights lawsuit filed to seek recovery for the 44 years that Mr. Long lost due to his wrongful conviction. Mr. Long’s convictions were vacated in August 2020, and he received a Pardon of Innocence in December 2020. In May 2021, Olson and Olson Law filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Mr. Long’s behalf. After successfully fending off a motion to dismiss filed by State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) defendants – Long v. City of Concord, et al., 623 F.Supp.3d 647 (E.D. North Carolina, Aug. 23, 2022) – the case against the SBI defendants was resolved for $3 million in March 2023. The remaining defendants, the City of Concord and Concord Police Department officers involved with Long’s wrongful conviction and wrongful incarceration, agreed to pay $22 million in January 2024. The City of Concord also issued a formal, public apology for the actions of the City and its personnel which caused and extended Mr. Long’s four-decade wrongful incarceration. Thus, the total settlement in this wrongful incarceration lawsuit was $25 million, the highest settlement figure for a wrongful incarceration suit in North Carolina history. The settlement also ranks as one of the highest in the nation among all reported wrongful incarceration settlements.
Olson has previously been recognized for his work in other cases listed in the top 10 North Carolina verdicts and settlements. He was part of a team that successfully pursued the wrongful incarceration suit on behalf of Mr. Dwayne Dail, which resulted in a settlement of $7.5 million in 2013. Mr. Dail was subjected to an 18-year wrongful incarceration. Like the case involving Mr. Long, the settlement of Mr. Dail’s case was accompanied by a formal letter of apology by the municipality whose personnel’s actions needlessly extended the duration of his wrongful incarceration. Olson also served as class counsel in two consumer class actions (Richardson v. Bank of America, N.A., et al. and Tillman v. Commercial Credit Loans, Inc., et al.) that were settled for $38.75 million and $42.5 million in 2009 and claimed the top two spots in the listing of highest verdicts or settlements in North Carolina for that year.
