Chris Man

• Pro bono representation of current and former members of the military and their same-sex spouses in a precedent-setting case against the US military to invalidate the Defense of Marriage Act and similar restrictions in the military titles of the US Code that unconstitutionally prevented the military from paying spousal benefits to legally married spouses of the same sex. The President, Attorney General, and Secretary of Defense advised the court that they agreed these laws were unconstitutional, and we litigated against the US House of Representatives. A judgment declaring those laws unconstitutional was entered.
• Filed several amici curiae briefs on behalf of approximately twenty former federal judges with the US Supreme Courts addressing legal issues within the criminal justice system.
• Submitted a petition for certiorari to the US Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of criminal forfeiture proceedings.
• Represented the Federative Republic of Brazil as amicus before the US Supreme Court.
• Represented the Royal Government of Cambodia and the Government of the Republic of Croatia in matters related to war crimes and democratization issues.
• Acted as outside general counsel to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a unique federal agency under the control of Congress, rather than the Executive Branch.
• Advised the Government of the Virgin Islands on potential litigation concerning government contracts.
• Represented Hunter Biden in federal criminal proceedings in California and Delaware which were resolved through a presidential pardon.
• Served as ethics counsel for the Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President, Jared Kushner, and for the Advisor to the President, Ivanka Trump; assisted them with making required financial disclosures and compliance with federal ethics laws.
• Represented Senator Robert Menendez at his initial criminal public corruption trial. The case ended in a mistrial when 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 trial attorney in the successful defense of former New York Governor George Pataki against 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 allegedly violating federal election laws. The jury acquitted Senator Edwards on all charges.
• Represented Matthew Grimes and secured his acquittal on federal charges of failing to register as a foreign agent.
• Representing numerous entities and individuals in litigation, administrative proceedings, and investigations concerning alleged violations of US sanctions by 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.
• Represented Cobra Acquisitions in litigation against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for US$380 million owed to Cobra for its work in restoring power to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, which settled on favorable terms.
• 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.
• Pro bono representation of a transgender inmate on appeal to the US 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; successfully defended against Grayson’s appeals to the Eleventh Circuit and the US Supreme Court.
• Represented Ruel Hamilton on appeal to the Fifth Circuit, which overturned his conviction and established an important precedent limiting the reach of the federal program bribery statute (Section 666). While Mr. Hamilton was on remand, served as part of a team that secured across-the-board acquittals following a retrial.
• Represented Paul Minor on appeal to 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 DOJ, SEC, and the UK Serious Fraud Office of 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 that 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$50 billion worth of oil and gas in the Timor Sea.
• Represented Scott Sullivan, former CFO 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 RICO Act violations concerning smuggling and money laundering on behalf of Colombian drug lords.

• Lawdragon, 500 Leading Global Litigators (2024-2025)
• Lawdragon, 500 Global Leaders in Crisis Management (2025-2026)
• Benchmark Litigation US, Litigation Star (2021-2026)
• Legal 500 US, Key Lawyer, Dispute Resolution: International Litigation (2022-2023, 2025)

Selected Publications

• "Justices Ruling Stresses Quick Action Against Absconders," Law360, April 7, 2026
• Co-author, "FARA in the New Age of Enforcement and Compliance," Client Brief, October 24, 2024
• Co-authors, "The Major Fraud Statute May Apply to Borrowers of Funds Under the CARES Act," Client Brief, June 2020
• "Analyzing Court Orders Tolling the Speedy Trial Act During Covid-19," Client Brief, May 2020
• Co-author, "Federal Program Bribery Law May Reach Paycheck Protection Program Loan Recipients," Law360, May 2020
• Co-author, "Problems with Federal Courts Tolling Statutes of Limitations," Law360, May 2020
• Co-author, "Problems with Tolling the Speedy Trial Act During Pandemic," Law360, May 2020
• "Applying The Presidential Pardon Power In The Context of An Executive Branch Investigation," 33 ABA Criminal Justice Magazine, Summer 2018
• Co-author, "Federalizing Corporate Internal Investigations and The Erosion of Employees’ Fifth Amendment Rights," 40 Georgetown Law Journal Annual Review of Criminal Procedure, June 2011
• "Not Every Wrong is a Crime: The Legal and Practical Problems with the Federal ‘Honest-Services’ Statute," 63 Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc 11, 2010
• "U.S. Trade Sanctions Are a Trap for the Unwary," Project Finance NewsWire, April 2007
• "Is the DOJ’s New Policy of Prosecuting Corporations Real Reform or Business as Usual?" Law360, January 31, 2007
• "Forecasting Sexual Abuse in Prison: The Prison Subculture of Masculinity as a Backdrop for Deliberate Indifference," 92 Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 1, 2006
• "The Supreme Court’s Decision in United States v. Booker Opens the Door to Fairer Sentences in White Collar Cases," Securities Litigation and Enforcement, NewsWire, April 2005
• "Revenue Rule to Get Spotlight," National Law Journal, July 19, 2004
• "High Court is Set to Consider 'Revenue Rule’ in Criminal Context," New York Law Journal, July 19, 2004
• "The USA Patriot Act of 2001 Poses a New Threat to Grand Jury Secrecy," 9 Business Crimes Bulletin, 2002
• "Coordinated Criminal Investigations Between the United States and Foreign Governments and Their Implications for Constitutional Rights," 42 Virginia Journal of International Law 821, 2002
• "Extradition and Article III: A Historical Examination of the Judicial Power of the United States," 10 Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law, 2002
• "Preventing Disclosure of Grand Jury Materials to Foreign Governments Pursuant to MLATs," 8 Business Crimes Bulletin 1, June 2001
• "Restoring Effective Judicial Review of Environmental Regulations in Civil and Criminal Enforcement Proceedings," 5 Environmental Lawyer 665, 1999
• "The Constitutional Rights of Non-Settling Potentially Responsible Parties in the Allocation of CERCLA Liability," 27 Environmental Law 375, 1997
• "The Scope of Intellectual Property’s Protection of Stylistic Rights," 47 Journal of Urban and Contemporary Law 250, 1995