Chris Manning represents individual and corporate clients in complex civil and criminal matters. Chris serves as lead counsel in trial and appellate proceedings across the country, and he advises clients around the world on matters relating to litigation in the United States. He is Co-Chair of Williams & Connolly’s Arbitration and FCPA & Cross-Border Investigations practice groups.
Chris’s civil practice focuses on False Claims Act litigation, Anti-Terrorism Act litigation, securities and financial services litigation, and high-stakes commercial disputes. Chris also represents individuals and companies under investigation or indictment in white-collar criminal defense matters and in parallel investigations or proceedings by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, state attorneys general and civil plaintiffs. Chris has been recognized in The National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Law360, The Washington Post Magazine, and Super Lawyers. The National Law Journal named Chris to its short list of Washington-area lawyers who “have already made their marks in private practice, in government agencies, on Capitol Hill and with public interest groups.”
Chris speaks at legal conferences, including at the ABA’s Annual Meeting on “The False Claims Act Post-Escobar,” the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s White Collar Crime Town Hall on “The Politically-Charged Investigation: the Washington Insider’s Guide,” and the ABA’s National Institute on Securities Fraud on “Lawyers in the Cross-Hairs: When Legal Advice Exposes Counsel to Criminal Charges and Civil Enforcement Remedies.” Chris has served as a co-chair of the Qui Tam (False Claims Act) Subcommittee of the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s White Collar Crime Committee since 2016.
A native Washingtonian, Chris graduated magna cum laude from Duke University, earning Phi Beta Kappa honors while also playing on Duke’s ACC champion lacrosse team. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology. He clerked for Judge Dennis Jacobs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Chris joined Williams & Connolly in 1999. He served on the firm’s Hiring Committee from 2008 to 2011 and the firm’s Associate Evaluation Committee from 2009 to 2016. In addition to his pro bono work, Chris started Williams & Connolly’s after-school tutoring program for a local public charter school and has served on the Boards of Trustees of Landon School and Aidan Montessori School.
Updated Sep 2024
