Overview

Christopher Stagg leads Holland & Knight's Export Control Disputes and Advocacy Team and advises companies on investigations, enforcement defense, consent agreements, compliance programs, regulatory interpretations and complex jurisdiction and classification issues.

Mr. Stagg resolves the most challenging and high-stakes matters with distinct experience that helps clients avoid traps and uncover often-missed opportunities. He was an architect of rewriting export control laws, secured the only judicial appellate decision ever rejecting the agency's interpretations of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), led the enforcement defense of a proposed charging letter for a leading aerospace company that resulted in one of the most favorable settlements in ITAR enforcement history and advised six publicly traded companies on their consent agreements.

Mr. Stagg served as a senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), where he was deputy lead for Export Control Reform, which involved rewriting the ITAR and Export Administration Regulations (EAR), including the entire U.S. Munitions List. In addition to creating the current regulatory framework, he was also responsible for authoritatively interpreting the ITAR, reforming the commodity jurisdiction procedure, resolving hundreds of commodity jurisdiction requests and advising the FBI on hundreds of export enforcement investigations.

Mr. Stagg holds the distinction of successfully challenging the government's export control interpretations in federal court, providing a key perspective for approaching all matters by deeply understanding the legal strategies and agency vulnerabilities. In addition to the only appellate decision to reject DDTC's ITAR interpretations, he obtained favorable district court rulings that the government did not appeal, and he originated a novel legal argument concerning the ITAR's statutory authority that was later successfully used by 19 state attorneys general. Drawing on this export control litigation experience, he develops effective legal strategies and identifies novel legal issues to advance and protect client interests.

Mr. Stagg's strategic counsel often takes place under existing or anticipated government scrutiny. His work includes helping companies navigate consent agreements and monitorships such as implementing corrective actions and developing compliance programs that satisfy the government's requirements. He also leads major jurisdiction and classification reviews, including one under a consent agreement, where he personally classified more than 80,000 items and DDTC approved his methodology without changes. Additionally, Mr. Stagg defends companies against alleged export control violations, advises on whether to voluntarily disclose violations and negotiates consent agreements. He helps companies confidently resolve the most perplexing jurisdiction, classification and interpretive issues, and he has represented scores of companies in successful commodity jurisdiction and classification requests, including reversals of adverse agency decisions through appeals, reconsiderations and rulemakings.

In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Stagg serves as co-chair of the American Bar Association's Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Committee. He is also the assistant editor of Bartlett's Annotated International Traffic in Arms Regulations and has been inducted as a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is featured or quoted by many leading publications, including The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. He is a frequent speaker at prominent industry events such as the Society for International Affairs and American Conference Institute.

Mr. Stagg's previous legal experience includes serving a secondment as an in-house senior counsel for a Fortune Global 100 company, working as an export controls lawyer at two distinguished law firms and founding his award-winning law firm that earned "highly commended" recognition from WorldECR. Before his legal career, he was a defense industry analyst at Jane's Information Group and reporter for Jane's Defence Weekly.

Not yet admitted to Virginia Bar; admitted to New York Bar and District of Columbia Bar only and practicing under supervision of lawyers licensed to practice in Virginia.

Representative Experience

  • Led the enforcement defense and legal strategy for a prominent aerospace and defense company that involved contesting a proposed charging letter and consent agreement involving alleged violations of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), leading to the longest-known defense of a proposed charging letter in history and one of the most favorable settlements in ITAR enforcement history
  • Advised a Fortune 250 company on its ITAR consent agreement compliance that included developing effective and enterprise-wide policies and procedures, as well as resolved disagreements with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) and special compliance officer
  • Advised a publicly traded company on complying with its ITAR consent agreement requirements, including leading the jurisdiction and classification review that involved personally classifying more than 80,000 items; the methodology was approved by DDTC without any changes
  • Advised a Fortune Global 100 subsidiary on potential litigation against the U.S. government that involved constitutional, statutory and regulatory issues concerning U.S. export control laws, with the legal strategy ultimately being used to resolve the issue without litigation
  • Litigated constitutional and regulatory interpretative issues concerning the ITAR, leading to a federal appellate court finding the agency's core regulatory position as meritless; this was the first-ever appellate decision to invalidate DDTC's construction of the ITAR, which followed the district court invalidating other DDTC interpretations of the ITAR that the government did not appeal
  • Engaged by a Fortune 100 company to handle a high-stakes matter before DDTC involving the potential shutdown of critical aerospace programs due to pending regulatory revisions; case was readily resolved within one week through a novel legal argument agreed to by DDTC
  • Advised a Fortune 250 company on the legal strategy regarding a high-stakes voluntary disclosure involving the ITAR, where there was substantial risk of the company receiving a proposed charging letter and consent agreement
  • Represented a Fortune 100 company on its ITAR consent agreement compliance, including by establishing a scalable and enterprise-wide jurisdiction and classification program, as well as by creating the legal strategy and submissions that successfully obtained scores of favorable commodity jurisdiction (CJ) determinations
  • Advised a Fortune Global 250 aerospace and defense subsidiary under an ITAR consent agreement by enhancing its jurisdiction and classification program to identify and handle complex assessments, including the ITAR's see-through rule
  • Assisted a publicly traded company under an ITAR consent agreement with determining the jurisdiction and classification of more than 6,000 items, including technical data and technology
  • Successfully defended a U.S. company in a mandatory disclosure under the ITAR involving potential violations of unauthorized exports of significant military equipment (SME) to China, where there was presumptively harm to U.S. national security
  • Assisted a Fortune 100 company with reclassifying its aerospace and electronics items due to the changes to the U.S. Munitions List (USML) and Commerce Control List (CCL) under Export Control Reform
  • Successfully reversed an ITAR commodity jurisdiction (CJ) ruling concerning military software that was previously determined to be a defense article and resulting in an EAR99 determination following the successful appeal 
  • Originated a novel legal argument, later successfully used by 19 state attorney generals in federal litigation, that removing a specific article from the USML without congressional notification violates the Arms Export Control Act (AECA)
  • Defended a British company from alleged reexport and retransfer violations of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) involving military and civilian goods, leading to successful resolution of the matter without any penalty
  • Conducted an export controls and economic sanctions risk assessment for a technology company in anticipation of its initial public offering (IPO)
  • Obtained the reinstatement of a debarred party, a U.S. company, under the AECA and ITAR Regulations
  • Assisted a U.S. company with successfully obtaining numerous export licenses under the EAR to an end-user on the Entity List
  • Audited the export compliance program of U.S. materials company and strengthened its compliance with enhanced policies and procedures, as well as provided customized awareness and specialty training
  • Assisted the U.S. subsidiary of a major European technology company with product classifications (including complex encryption items), multi-tier export compliance training and customized policies and procedures
  • Successfully advocated numerous revisions to the ITAR and EAR for Fortune 500 companies that advance and protect their interests, as well as by receiving favorable regulatory interpretations
  • Successfully obtained an EAR99 classification through the commodity classification (CCATS) process for encryption software to resolve a dispute between the company and a third party
  • Performed merger and acquisition due diligence regarding a target company that was previously sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Commerce for apparent violations of the EAR
  • Successfully represented scores of companies in CJ and CCATS, including CJ appeals, as well as in obtaining favorable regulatory interpretations through advisory opinion requests
  • Resolved complex regulatory interpretations for defense primes and Fortune 500 companies involving some of the most perplexing export control issues – such as the scope of defense services and technical data – and addressing those matters in light of constitutional requirements
  • Assisted a U.S. publicly traded pharmaceutical company with successfully obtaining export licenses under the EAR concerning controlled biological agents to sensitive countries
  • Counseled European companies on the new export restrictions on Russia and Belarus under the EAR
  • Assisted non-U.S. semiconductor companies with understanding and complying with the new semiconductor and supercomputer rules under the EAR
  • Successfully completed an in-house secondment with a Fortune Global 100 company in a senior counsel role that advised the company on U.S. export controls and economic sanctions laws
  • Led audits and internal investigations for numerous companies concerning potential violations of the ITAR and EAR, including advising on decisions whether to submit voluntary disclosures, as well as advising on corrective actions, gap analysis and mitigation
  • Successfully obtained clearance by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for multiple transactions involving U.S. critical technology companies, as well as advised on related U.S. export control issues
  • Advised non-U.S. companies on applying the EAR's de minimis and foreign direct product rules to determine whether foreign made items are subject to the EAR
  • Advised a telecommunications company on establishing ongoing civilian communications services in an embargoed country in compliance with U.S. export controls laws

Credentials

Education
  • Saint Louis University School of Law, J.D.
  • The George Washington University, B.A.
Bar Admissions/Licenses
  • District of Columbia
  • New York
Court Admissions
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Memberships
  • American Bar Association, Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Committee, Co-Chair, 2023-Present
  • American Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Bartlett's Annotated International Traffic in Arms Regulations, Assistant Editor, 2024-Present
Honors & Awards
  • Highly Commended, U.S. Export Controls, WorldECR, 2015
  • Appreciation Award, Export Control Reform, U.S. Department of State, 2013
  • Appreciation Award, National Security Investigations, U.S. Department of State, 2013
  • ICE Director's Award, Counterproliferation Investigations, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2013
  • Appreciation Award, Commodity Jurisdiction, U.S. Department of State, 2011

Publications

Speaking Engagements

News