Christopher W. Dysard

Chris Dysard is an experienced criminal and civil litigator. A trusted adviser and tireless advocate, he counsels institutions and individuals in white collar criminal matters, securities enforcement proceedings, and complex commercial litigation.

Chris has represented clients in investigations and proceedings involving numerous U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), the New York State Attorney General’s Office, various other state Attorneys General, and other governmental and regulatory bodies. His practice spans every phase of criminal, civil, and enforcement matters, including pre-indictment investigations, pleadings, motion practice (from temporary restraining orders to summary judgment), fact and expert discovery, trials, post-judgment briefing, pleas, sentencings, appeals, settlements, and mediations. Recognized for his exceptional written advocacy, he has taught legal writing skills to first-year students as an adjunct professor at Fordham University School of Law.

He also has significant experience with corporate internal investigations, conducting sensitive inquiries on behalf of special committees of boards of directors, as well as representing individual witnesses in investigations.

Chris has an active, rewarding pro bono practice. He has represented veterans of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force in discharge upgrade proceedings before military review boards. He served as counsel for two prisoners in military custody at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in federal habeas corpus proceedings; both men have now been released to their respective countries of citizenship. He has also represented a prisoner in a criminal appeal before the New York Appellate Division, First Department; assisted in the drafting of an amicus brief in a disability rights case before the Second Circuit; and assisted in the drafting of an amicus brief in an adoption case before the Supreme Court of Missouri.

Chris is a member of the Federal Bar Council, the Civil Rights Committee of the Federal Bar Council, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He previously served on the City Bar’s Committee on Professional Ethics and the City Bar’s Pro Bono and Legal Services Committee. He served as a moderator on a panel hosted by Blank Rome titled AI and the New Age of Fraud: Risks, Realities, and Responses (2025) and on a panel of federal and state court judges titled Recurring Ethics Issues: The Judicial Perspective, part of the American Bar Association’s annual meeting (2017).

Criminal and Securities Enforcement Matters

Notable representations in criminal and securities enforcement matters include:

• The CEO of a pharmaceutical company in investigations involving the U.S. Department of Justice and certain U.S. Attorney’s Offices, lawsuits brought by certain state Attorneys General, and related civil litigations, and in testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
• The President of the United States, as intervenor in connection with the seizure of materials from Michael D. Cohen by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, obtaining the right to conduct a privilege review of those materials.
• A senior trader at a major broker-dealer in connection with investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
• A former hedge fund analyst at a large international bank in an insider trading prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
• A former employee of a ratings agency in investigations by the SEC and the New York Attorney General’s Office.
• An employee of an information infrastructure solutions company in an insider trading investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
• A sales representative of an international pharmaceuticals company in an internal investigation regarding sales practices.
• An attorney at a large international bank in a cross-border tax investigation by the SEC.
• A former director at a major accounting and consulting firm in a tax shelter investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
• The former head of the lending desk of a large international bank in an investigation by the SEC.
• A former investment management and wealth management firm investment banker in a federal criminal conspiracy and wire fraud case brought by the Enron Task Force; the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal was reversed on appeal.

Civil Matters

Notable representations in civil matters include:

• A group of former directors of a multinational bank named as defendants in a shareholder derivative action brought in New York state court, alleging breach of fiduciary duties under Swiss law.
• A large international investment bank named as a defendant in multiple cases in federal and state courts, in which the plaintiffs sought billions of dollars in damages in connection with the offering and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities.
• A group of hedge funds as plaintiffs in a civil action in the Southern District of New York against several individuals and entities, alleging a fraudulent scheme in violation of federal securities laws and state law.
• A group of hedge funds as plaintiffs in a civil action in the Middle District of Florida, asserting an unjust enrichment claim against the former wife of the primary architect of a penny stock manipulation scheme.
• A group of foreign and domestic financial institutions in a six-week jury trial in the Southern District of New York against a major investment bank to recover large losses related to the sale of asset-backed securities. The jury returned a verdict for the firm’s clients, resulting in a judgment of $144 million, which was one of the largest jury awards in the United States that year. The trial judgment was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
• A French-based multinational financial services company in a contract action in the Southern District of New York.
• A private equity fund sued in a contract action; the fund’s motion to dismiss was granted.

• Event

  Financial Crimes & Corporate Investigations

  Blank Rome-Hosted Event December 1, 2025

  Jennifer L. Achilles, Rither Alabre, Christopher W. Dysard, Bradley L. Henry, Philip N. Yannella

• Press Release

  Blank Rome Welcomes Prominent White Collar and Complex Litigation Team in New York

  January 8, 2024

  David Spears, Linda Imes, Christopher W. Dysard, Michael E. Donohue, Rebecca L. Orel

See all News and Views

Memberships

• Federal Bar Council
• Association of the Bar of the City of New York

Chris is a member of the Federal Bar Council, the Civil Rights Committee of the Federal Bar Council, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He served on the City Bar’s Committee on Professional Ethics from 2014 to 2017 and the City Bar’s Pro Bono and Legal Services Committee from 2009 to 2011. He was an Adjunct Legal Writing Professor at Fordham University School of Law in 2011–2012.

Admissions

• New York
• U.S. District Court - Eastern District of New York
• U.S. District Court - Southern District of New York
• United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Education

• Harvard University, BA, magna cum laude
• University of Virginia School of Law, JD; Articles Editor, Virginia Law Review