Christopher B. Harwood
Partner
Christopher B. Harwood is a former federal prosecutor with extensive civil and criminal litigation experience. Chris regularly handles complex commercial litigation at the trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts for individual and corporate clients. His litigation experience includes business and partnership disputes, shareholder disputes, securities litigation, employment disputes, real estate disputes, and business torts.
On the criminal and regulatory side, his cases have spanned allegations of financial and healthcare fraud, money laundering, federal program and grant fraud, sanctions violations, and AML program failures. He regularly advises corporate officers, boards, and institutions facing parallel civil and criminal proceedings, and has secured favorable outcomes for clients, including government declinations, full dismissals, and confidential resolutions in high-risk matters.
For eight years, Chris served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he was Co-Chief of the Civil Frauds Unit. In that role, he supervised approximately 40 attorneys and led some of the country’s most significant civil enforcement cases. He also served as the Office’s Civil Healthcare Fraud Coordinator and as coordinator for parallel civil and criminal matters. Chris’ extensive government experience gives him a deep understanding of how prosecutors and regulators think, what drives their decisions, and how to strategically position clients for the best possible outcomes.
Chris began his career in government service as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, where he litigated constitutional, employment, tort, and administrative law cases on behalf of federal agencies.
Chris is also a Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School, where he teaches legal writing and oral advocacy.
Chris has earned broad recognition for his work in litigation. Benchmark Litigation has named him a “Litigation Star” in both White-Collar Crime and Labor and Employment, noting: “Chris is an outstanding personality who is always very convincing…his pleadings are clear and logically structured. It doesn’t get any better than that. His presentation and his reactions in court are outstanding, always excellently prepared. He always addresses risks clearly.” In addition, The Legal 500 United States has recognized Chris for his work in Corporate Investigations & White-Collar Criminal Defense and Securities Litigation: Defense.