Chris represents clients in both federal and state courts, as well as before governmental agencies and other regulatory bodies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, the New York Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Department of Labor, the New York City Department of Investigations and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. He has defended clients in federal and state investigations and prosecutions involving allegations of tax fraud, securities fraud, criminal anti-trust violations (bid rigging and price fixing, including in the foreign exchange market), Bank Secrecy Act violations, mail and wire fraud, CARES Act fraud, prevailing wage fraud, theft of government services, fraud related to state and local Minority and Women Business Enterprise (“MWBE”) programs, and other violations of federal and state law.
In his civil practice, Chris has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of complex commercial and regulatory matters, including wage and hour class actions, Department of Labor investigations, tax shelter litigations, government procurement matters and commercial litigations involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraudulent conveyances, civil fraud, civil RICO, civil forfeiture and similar claims.
Chris is drawn to litigation because he loves to compete and has a drive to win. Years of experience have taught him that winning can be measured in many ways and can mean different things to different clients. While skilled in a courtroom, Chris counts among his greatest victories those cases that never went to trial or made the headlines because he persuaded prosecutors not to charge his client or obtained a favorable settlement. He achieves these results through hard work and tireless devotion to his clients, many of whom are individuals or small business owners.
Chris also conducts internal investigations for institutional clients whose officers and/or employees have been suspected or accused of wrongdoing.
Chris is recognized in Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in the areas of white collar criminal defense and commercial litigation. The Legal 500 describes him as a “key lawyer” at the Firm and ITR World Tax describes him as “highly regarded” in the area of tax controversy. He is a member of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers and is the former Secretary of the Criminal Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association. Chris also publishes and speaks extensively in the areas of white collar crime and civil and criminal tax controversies.
Chris received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Boston College and his J.D. from New York University School of Law. Prior to joining Kostelanetz LLP, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jay C. Waldman of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and was associated with the law firm of Dewey Ballantine, LLP, where he practiced in the areas of complex commercial, antitrust, and bankruptcy litigation.
