Christian Ford

Christian advises clients, particularly in the technology, industrial, and aerospace sectors, on regulatory and internal corporate compliance, export controls, sanctions and anti-money laundering, government inquiries, investigations and prosecutions, as well as national security matters and related risk management.

Christian joined DLA Piper after serving for nearly three decades in various national security roles in the Department of Energy and Department of Homeland Security, and later, in the Department of Defense, where he was an Associate Deputy General Counsel. Immediately prior to joining DLA Piper, Christian served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy (OLP), where he advised the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, and Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy on national security and law enforcement matters. Christian also served as a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, where he supervised national security investigations and prosecutions throughout the country involving theft of trade secrets, violations of export controls and sanctions, espionage, and mishandling of classified information, insider threats, and cyber intrusions. His responsibilities included advising regulatory agencies, including the Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security. He worked regularly on national security matters with nearly a dozen Federal Law Enforcement agencies, the Intelligence Community, and the Department of Defense.

Christian is a veteran and former Navy SEAL.