Chris MacColl’s practice focuses on representing individuals and corporations in complex civil litigation and investigations. For nearly a decade, he has represented companies and individuals in state and federal courts and in DOJ, SEC, FINRA, FTC, and congressional investigations, often in the face of unrelenting media scrutiny. Chris frequently litigates and advises on issues related to derivatives, digital assets, market structure, competition law, and trading practices.

Chris takes a client-centered approach to his practice. Whether victory means a quiet resolution or a reverberating verdict after trial, he aims to understand and exceed each client’s unique needs and objectives.

As a member of the firm’s AI working group, Chris is at the forefront of integrating appropriate technologies, including artificial intelligence, to deliver exceptional client service. Chris leverages AI to increase value and reduce costs whenever possible. He draws on his early-career experience as a consultant and as an economic analyst to understand the business realities and market forces clients face and to identify the tools that will synthesize relevant documents and data most efficiently.

From 2018-2019, Chris clerked for the Honorable Allison D. Burroughs of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Before that, he was a litigation associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.

Chris graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was a contributing editor of the University of Michigan Law Review.  He served as a research assistant to John A.E. Pottow and Michael S. Barr, helping the latter (now a governor of the Federal Reserve) edit the first edition of his textbook, Financial Regulation: Law and Policy. Chris also interned for the Honorable Nancy Torresen of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine.

Practice Focus

Education
  • University of Michigan Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, 2016
    • Contributing Editor, University of Michigan Law Review
    • Certificates of Merit: Contracts, Civil Procedure, Enterprise Organization, Bankruptcy
  • Kenyon College, B.A., cum laude, 2011

Bar Admissions
  • District of Columbia
  • Massachusetts
  • New York

Court Admissions
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
  • U.S. District Court, District of Maryland
  • U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts

Clerkships
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
    • Hon. Allison Dale Burroughs

Experience
  • Represents blockchain executive in governmental investigations and related class action lawsuits alleging market manipulation.
  • Represents a former accountholder of cryptocurrency exchange in ancillary proceeding to recover hundreds of millions of dollars of crypto currency that was stolen and later recovered by the DOJ.
  • Represents multiple hospital systems in connection with significant antitrust litigation against the Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers.
  • Represented a high-profile former registered agent of a broker-dealer in connection with a FINRA investigation into allegations of outside business activities.  The matter resolved without charges.
  • Represented a sales manager of a financial services company in connection with a DOJ investigation focused on spoofing and other alleged crimes.
  • Represented a former executive of a major energy company in connection with criminal investigations and civil lawsuits regarding alleged bribery of state officials.
  • Represented a former executive of a medical technology corporation in an arbitration process related to his departure and associated disputes of the company’s funding rounds.
  • Represented an individual who generated substantial trading profits from appreciation of stocks in connection with a congressional investigation and multiple civil lawsuits.  All three lawsuit were dismissed.
  • Represented an executive and nonprofit entities in litigation filed by a Russian financial institution concerning alleged defamation. The defamation action was dismissed.
  • Represented a large health system in a civil litigation brought against a provider of actuarial services. The case alleged that the defendant understated the pension plans’ liabilities of a smaller health system acquired by our client by more than $130 million, saddling our client with that liability after the acquisition closed. After an 18-day federal jury trial, the case settled on terms satisfactory to the client.

News & InsightZS Blog

Recognitions