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Christian Ford

Christian Ford

Partner

Chair, Space Exploration and Innovation practice

About

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.

Bar admissionsCaliforniaDistrict of ColumbiaTexas
Education
  • J.D., University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
  • M.A., Political Science, University of California at Berkeley
  • M.A., International Relations, Yale University

Awards

  • The Legal 500 United States
    • Recommended, Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense (2022-2023)
  • Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service
  • FBI Director's Award for Outstanding Counterintelligence Investigation
  • National Intelligence Medallion
  • Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Law Enforcement Award
  • National Security Division's Assistant Attorney General Award for Excellence (2016, 2017, 2019)

Seminars

Connect

Phone

+1 202 799 4420
(Work, Washington, DC)
+1 713 425 8420
(Work, Houston)