Christopher Swift, Foley & Lardner LLP

Christopher Swift is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP and a member of the firm’s Government Enforcement Defense & Investigations Practice. Focusing on national security and international law, he defends clients in cross-border investigations and government enforcement actions involving anti-money laundering (AML), arms controls (ITAR), economic sanctions (OFAC), dual-use exports (EAR), and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Dr. Swift also represents clients before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and support them in government investigations implicating terrorism or espionage.  His practice encompasses various aspects of public and private international law, including issues arising under Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), and other international conventions.

Prior to entering private practice, Dr. Swift served in U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, where he enforced sanctions targeting rogue states, terrorist syndicates, and weapons proliferators. While at OFAC, he managed a broad spectrum of civil and criminal cases in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and other federal law enforcement agencies.  Dr. Swift has testified before the U.S. Congress on national security issues, served as an adjunct professor of national security studies at Georgetown University, and was a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations.  He also appears as a guest analyst on legal and national security issues for leading broadcast and cable news networks.

Dr. Swift earned a Ph.D. in politics & international studies from the University of Cambridge, where he was a section editor for the Cambridge Review of International Affairs. He received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.), his master’s degree in international relations from the University of Cambridge (M.St.), and his undergraduate degree in history and government from Dartmouth College (A.B.).  Dr. Swift is an Eagle Scout and graduate of the Derryfield School in Manchester, New Hampshire.