Chris Sbrusch is a lifelong East Texan, proud of deep Texas roots that trace back to family who settled here before Texas was even a Republic. Born in Anderson County, Chris spent his entire K-12 education in Slocum, where he was a multisport athlete and the top-ranked student in his class every year while working various jobs. He then became the first member of his family to go to college, and challenged himself even further by leaving a graduating class of 20 to attend The University of Texas at Austin, where his history class was larger than the entire Slocum I.S.D. enrollment.
At UT, Chris earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology in 3.5 years while working as an equipment manager for the Longhorn football team and serving as president of the Texas Student Psychology Association. He went on to earn his law degree from South Texas College of Law Houston while working for the prestigious Nations Law Firm. Long before becoming a lawyer, Chris learned the value of hard work the East Texas way—working cattle, baling hay with his family, and even literally digging ditches one summer before deciding to go to law school.
From 2010 to 2012, Chris worked as an insurance defense lawyer, gaining firsthand insight into how claims are evaluated, defended, and fought by the other side. He then founded PINEYWOODS LAW™ in 2012, but before the wheels could fully get off the ground, he accepted an opportunity he could not refuse with another prestigious statewide personal injury law firm. During that time, he spent two years as the second attorney in charge of that firm’s Tyler office before being transferred to Odessa, where he served for five years as the lead/managing attorney.
Then, on Good Friday 2019, Chris left that firm to reopen PINEYWOODS LAW™ in Grapeland, Texas. By coming back home, he positioned the firm between Palestine and Crockett to provide convenient access for families in both Anderson and Houston counties. He is licensed to practice law in Texas and in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, and he is proud to have served as lead attorney on more than 3,000 personal injury case resolutions throughout his career. Chris built his practice to combine high-level personal injury experience with the accessibility, grit, and personal commitment that people in East Texas deserve.
Outside the office, Chris has remained deeply invested in the communities he serves. He developed a passion for basketball and service early in life and has served as a Little Dribblers basketball coach every year since 2011. He can regularly be found supporting local teams and showing up for the people and places that shaped him. Chris is also the founder and president of the Doyle Marshall Memorial Scholarship Fund, a registered 501(c)(3) created to honor the memory of his great-grandfather, Doyle Marshall. Since 2014, the foundation has awarded scholarships to graduating seniors in Anderson County and Houston County, with a focus on deserving local students who may be overlooked by other scholarship programs.
Each year, Chris hosts the Doyle Boil as the organization’s primary fundraiser, drawing people from across Texas to enjoy nearly 1,000 pounds of his famous boiled crawfish, live music from local and nationally known artists, and a shared effort to invest in local students. Above all, Chris is a husband to Adriann Shoemake Sbrusch of Latexo—his high school sweetheart of more than two decades—and the proud father of their three children.
