Christopher Man
Chris is a highly regarded trial lawyer who has successfully represented numerous companies, as well as governors, members of Congress, senior White House officials, and U.S. presidential candidates. His practice focuses on civil and criminal litigation, appeals, internal investigations, investigations by Congress and the Executive Branch, and compliance with anti-corruption laws.
Key Matters
- Brought a precedent-setting case against the U.S. military pro bono on behalf of current and former members of the military and their same-sex spouses to invalidate the Defense of Marriage Act and similar restrictions in the military titles of the U.S. Code that unconstitutionally prevented the military from paying spousal benefits to legally married spouses of the same sex. The president, attorney general and military advised the court they agreed these laws were unconstitutional, and a judgment declaring those laws unconstitutional was entered.
- Filed amici curiae briefs on behalf of approximately twenty former federal judges with the U.S. Supreme Courts addressing legal issues with criminal justice.
- Represented Senator Robert Menendez at his criminal public corruption trial. The jury trial ended in a mistrial, when the jurors could not agree on a verdict, and the trial court granted our post-trial motions for acquittal on several charges.
- Served as alternating first chair at trial in the successful defense of former New York Governor George Pataki in defense of claims that he violated the civil rights of plaintiffs who were hospitalized under the Sexually Violent Predators Initiative. The jury found Governor Pataki not liable.
- Represented former Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards at trial for violating federal election laws. The jury acquitted Senator Edwards on all charges.
- Represented Matthew Grimes in securing his acquittal on federal charges of failing to register as a foreign agent.
- Served as ethics counsel to Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner and Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump, assisting them with making required financial disclosures and complying with federal ethics laws.
- Representing numerous entities and individuals in litigation, administrative proceedings, and investigations concerning alleged violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran and Russia.
- Represented several Iranian expatriates in an investigation by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) into allegations they had funded a foreign terrorist organization, which resulted in no action being taken by OFAC beyond issuing a cautionary letter to the clients.
- Representing Cobra Acquisitions in litigation against the Federal Emergency Management Agency for US$380M that is owed for its work in restoring power to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.
- Advising the Government of the Virgin Islands on potential litigation concerning government contracts.
- Assisted numerous individuals and companies in successfully resolving debarment and suspension investigations initiated by the federal government.
- Represented Puerto Rican Senator Hector Martinez at a criminal trial that resulted in a conviction of only one of the four charges, and successfully overturned the remaining count of conviction on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
- Represented a transgender inmate pro bono on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in a case that established an important precedent requiring prisons to respect the medical needs of transgender inmates.
- Represented No Labels in obtaining summary judgment against defamation claims brought against it by former Congressman Alan Grayson, and successfully defended against Grayson’s appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and United States Supreme Court.
- Represented Ruel Hamilton on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which overturned his conviction and established an important precedent limiting the reach of the federal program bribery statute (Section 666).
- Represented Paul Minor on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in a case that overturned his conviction for federal programs bribery (Section 666) and set another important precedent limiting the reach of the statute.
- Represented Ousama Naaman, a Lebanese-Canadian citizen under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office, on allegations that he violated the United Nation's Oil-for-Food Program and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes to the Iraqi government and its officials. A favorable plea agreement was negotiated in exchange for his cooperation, and Mr. Naaman was transferred to Canada to serve his sentence in record time where he was quickly paroled.
- Represented Wal-Mart in civil and criminal proceedings concerning allegations it used contractors who employed undocumented workers as floor cleaners in 22 states.
- Represented ConocoPhillips in civil and criminal proceedings concerning allegations of a conspiracy between corporate officers and Australian government officials to bribe East Timorese government officials in exchange for rights to develop US$50B worth of oil and gas in the Timor Sea.
- Represented Scott Sullivan, former Chief Financial Officer of WorldCom, in criminal proceedings.
- Assisted in preparing successful presidential pardon applications for Marc Rich and Pincus Green.
- Represented a major tobacco company in litigation brought by the European Community and various European and Latin American governments seeking billions of dollars in damages for alleged Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act violations concerning smuggling and money laundering on behalf of Colombian drug lords.