In addition to being an attorney with McGuireWoods LLP, Chris is an executive vice president in McGuireWoods Consulting. His government affairs practice consists of representing clients before the Virginia legislature, executive branch and state and local agencies.
Chris’ legal practice involves advising companies on political law compliance activities, including lobbying, gift restrictions involving public officials, campaign finance, and government ethics laws. He also holds the CIPP/US credential as a Certified Information Privacy Professional from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
With more than 25 years of experience in Virginia government and politics, Chris has developed a deep knowledge of Virginia state and local government and the legislative and regulatory process. Drawing on his experience as a lobbyist and as the former chief counsel to a Virginia attorney general, Chris assists clients in developing and implementing legislative and regulatory strategies to meet their business and public policy objectives.
Chris brings a unique perspective to his political law practice because of his government relations experience. Understanding the political process and the practice of government relations is essential to advising a client on how to comply with the myriad of federal, state and local rules governing lobbying, ethics, conflicts of interest, ethics in public procurement and campaign finance, while still achieving the client’s business and public policy objectives.
Among his many honors, Chris has been named to The Best Lawyers in America from 2011 through 2025, which twice named him “Lawyer of the Year” for Government Relations.
McGuireWoods Consulting LLC (“MWC”) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the McGuireWoods LLP law firm. From time to time, various McGuireWoods lawyers provide non-legal services to MWC clients, but MWC cannot provide legal services or advice. Therefore, any work MWC performs for a client does not give rise to an attorney-client relationship or privilege. Should you require legal services from McGuireWoods, as well as consulting services from MWC, you must engage the law firm separately.
- Virginia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
- U.S. Supreme Court
Named “Lawyer of the Year,” Richmond, Government Relations Practice, Best Lawyers, 2023, 2025
Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Government Relations Practice, Woodward/White, Inc. 2011-2025
Named to “Legal Elite,” Legislative/Regulatory/Administrative, Virginia Business, 2014
-
Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason UniversityJD
cum laude, Dean’s Scholar
1999 - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityBA1992
Member, Virginia Bar Association
Member, Virginia Code Commission
Virginia Commissioner, Uniform Law Commission
- Author, Virginia Legislature to Consider Comprehensive Data Privacy Legislation, Password Protected, January 21, 2021
- Author, Virginia Legislative Commission to Look at Data Protection and Children’s Online Privacy Issues, Password Protected, August 13, 2020
- Author, Virginia Punts Several Privacy-Related Bills for Post-Session Study, Password Protected, February 3, 2020
- Author, Will Virginia Follow California’s Lead on Consumer Privacy Legislation?, Password Protected, January 6, 2020
- Author, Va. to Consider Standards for Customer Record Care, Connected Device Security, Password Protected, January 28, 2019
- Author, 2018 Virginia General Assembly Wrap-Up: Modest Privacy-Related Bills Adopted, Password Protected, April 27, 2018
- Author, Virginia General Assembly to Tackle a Variety of Privacy Related Bills, Password Protected, January 23, 2018
- Author, The 2018 Virginia General Assembly Session Hasn’t Begun, but Legislation on Student Privacy and Credit Freeze Charges is Already Pending, Password Protected, December 18, 2017
- Author, The Politics of Access to Student Data, Password Protected, October 25, 2017
- Author, Is It Too Late for a Uniform State Approach to Data Breach Notification?, Password Protected, August 1, 2017
- Author, Uniform Approach Proposed to Protect Employee and Student Online Login Information, Password Protected, July 27, 2016
- Author, State Attorneys General Offer Perspectives on Data Breaches, Password Protected, December 15, 2015