Chris is a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois that has spent the last 7 years in private practice helping companies and individuals navigate governmental and internal investigations. He has defended cases brought by almost every government agency, including the DOJ, SEC, CFPB, CFTC, to name a few.
He has conducted multiple internal investigations for Fortune 500 companies related to accounting fraud, corporate embezzlement, theft of trade secrets, and other sensitive topics.
A trial lawyer at heart, Chris tried 7 jury cases during his time as a federal prosecutor, and an additional 13 trials in his time in private practice. His recent victories include a seven figure damages award for a plaintiff that brought suit against a former partner as well as a full acquittal of a criminal defendant charged with multiple felonies.
Chris has investigated and conducted complex federal civil, criminal, and administrative trials and appeals involving various subjects, including Medicare compliance, bankruptcy fraud, financial fraud, and legal and medical ethics. In addition, he has represented, advised, and assisted corporations in developing and implementing compliance programs, as well as conducting diligence as part of mergers, focusing on Medicare, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and Anti-Money Laundering compliance.
Chris was a former instructor at Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and National Advocacy Center. He also was an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University Law School, Drafting (Jan. 2015 – 2018); Research and Writing for Law Enforcement (January 2016 - June 2018).
*Matter handled prior to joining Benesch.
Representative Experience
- Successfully tried criminal insider trading case in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. After extensive briefing, the Court granted Rule 29 and Rule 33 acquittals in an oral ruling.
- Secured probation for internal medicine physician accused of fraudulently billing Medicare and insurance companies over $3 million.*
- False Claims Act Defense: Defended nursing home conglomerate in federal False Claims Act investigation regarding allegations of “worthless care” by nursing home staff; Defended home health care agency against civil and criminal allegations of false billing.*
- Healthcare Fraud: Defended podiatrist and related company accused of committing over $70 million in Medicare fraud by creating and implementing a computerized medical records system that automatically qualified all medical treatments for Medicare coverage.*
- Healthcare Fraud: Served as lead appellate attorney in United States v. Borassi, the Seventh Circuit’s leading case on the applicability of the safe harbor provision of the anti-kickback provision of the Medicare Fraud Statute.*
- Ethics: Represented two attorneys, one charged with criminal contempt and the other facing disbarment from bankruptcy court.*
- Securities Fraud: Represented financial advisor in SEC 10b5 investigation; Managed team representing multinational bank being investigated by SEC for improperly writing off loans.*
- Trials: Conducted 20 jury trials to verdict.*
- Internal and Governmental Investigations: Conducted investigations for Fortune 500 companies regarding: (1) $7 million accounting fraud that occurred during a merger; (2) theft of over $100 million by a CEO; (3) criminal theft of trade secrets, and (4) FCPA violations in Indonesia. Conducted extensive internal investigation for company regarding potential employee theft of competitor’s trade secrets; Conducted internal investigation based on SEC order regarding SEC’s allegations that multi-national bank impermissibly failed to write-off loans on bank’s financial statements; Conducted internal investigation of Chinese company accused of violations of the Economic Espionage Act.*
- Fraud: Investigated and tried a 15-defendant, $3 million corporate check fraud scheme involving the creation of fake entities at the Illinois Secretary of State for the purpose of depositing and cashing large denomination corporate checks at various commercial banks.*