Christopher M. Sarma

Education

  • Cornell Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, 2015
    • Articles Editor, Cornell Law Review
  • Oxford University, MSc, 2011
  • Wesleyan University, B.A., High Honors, 2009
    • Phi Beta Kappa

Clerkships

  • Law Clerk, Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2016-2017
  • Law Clerk, Judge Edward R. Korman, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, 2015-2016

Government Service

  • Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland

Admitted

  • 2016, New York
  • 2018, District of Columbia

Christopher M. Sarma is a trial lawyer who represents businesses and individuals in civil litigation and government investigations. As a former federal prosecutor, Chris brings substantial experience overseeing high-stakes litigation and investigations and trying cases in front of juries.

Prior to rejoining Kellogg Hansen as a partner, Chris served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland. During his time in government service, he tried numerous jury trials and prosecuted cases involving public corruption, cyber-enabled financial crimes, healthcare fraud, and other white-collar crimes. He secured convictions in all cases that he tried. He also presented oral argument before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and authored multiple appellate briefs. He won all of his appellate matters.

He previously worked as an associate at Kellogg Hansen, where he litigated a diverse range of matters on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants. He joined the firm as an associate after serving as a law clerk to Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Edward R. Korman in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Chris graduated magna cum laude from Cornell Law School, where he was Articles Editor of Cornell Law Review. He earned his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University, graduating with high honors. Chris also holds a graduate degree from Oxford University.

Representative Experience

  • Investigated and prosecuted public officials and government contractors for public corruption offenses, resulting in convictions in multiple matters.
  • United States v. Fombe, No. 19-cr-452 (D. Md). Prosecuted a multinational business email compromise scheme involving millions of dollars in victim losses. The lead defendant pled guilty moments before opening statements and was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
  • United States v. Flores-Reyes, No. 17-cr-382 (D. Md.). Tried a month-long RICO case that resulted in the convictions of three MS-13 leaders.
  • United States v. Mbom, No. 22-cr-109 (D. Md). Tried a healthcare fraud case resulting in the conviction of an executive of a healthcare company for defrauding federal healthcare programs.
  • United States v. Browndorf, 22-cr-291 (D. Md.). Prosecuted a California attorney for wire fraud and money laundering arising from the theft of funds.
Representative Private Practice Experience
  • United States v. AT&T Inc., No. 17-cv-02511 (D.D.C.). Represented AT&T in the Department of Justice’s challenge to the merger of AT&T and Time Warner.
  • Defended high net-worth individual in related investigations brought by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice.  Neither agency brought an enforcement action. 
  • Harbinger v. Singh, et al. Defended an entrepreneur against fraud claims arising from the sale of satellite spectrum. The plaintiff sought hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The court dismissed the action.
  • FASCore, LLC v. Linn, No. 151215/2019 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Oct. 4, 2019. Represented financial services company in high-value procurement dispute, obtaining judgment in the client’s favor. 

Achievements

  • FBI Washington Field Office Service Award (2024)
  • United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland Award for Excellence in Prosecution of Organized Crime (2022)

Articles, News & Events

  • Note, Citizenship and the War on Terror:  Should Federal Courts Consider a Plaintiff’s Citizenship in Post-9/11 Litigation?, 100 CORNELL L. REV. 733 (2015)

News