Karen Christian > Akin > Washington DC, United States > Lawyer Profile
Akin Offices
Robert S. Strauss Tower
2001 K Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006-1037
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
United States
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Karen Christian
Work Department
Partner; Disputes & Investigations
Position
Karen Christian has spent nearly 13 years conducting and overseeing congressional investigations. She counsels clients who may find themselves subjects of congressional probes or who are contending with potential associated regulatory, legislative or litigation challenges.
Karen has served as former general counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce and chief counsel to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. In her role as general counsel to the Committee, Karen oversaw and ran some of the most high-profile, complex congressional investigations of the last decade.
Karen brings her background to bear to advise clients in congressional investigations and related oversight. She helps them develop a comprehensive strategy that addresses parallel civil, criminal, state attorneys general, inspector general, Government Accountability Office and other regulatory investigations. She also lends her experience to formulate defensive and/or affirmative corresponding legislative strategy and to address a broad range of regulatory issues.
To learn more about Karen, please visit her full profile: https://www.akingump.com/en/lawyers-advisors/karen-elizabeth-christian.html
Career
Ms. Christian served as former general counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce and chief counsel to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. In her role as general counsel to the Committee, Karen oversaw and ran some of the most high-profile, complex congressional investigations of the last decade.
Memberships
District of Columbia Bar
Education
J.D., The Ohio State University College of Law, with honors, 2001; B.A., Ohio University, magna cum laude, 1996
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Government > Government relations
Akin houses one of the largest government relations practices in the market, with deep bench of lawyers and non-lawyers advisors who have extensive experience in the political process. Especially active in representing clients in high-profile interactions with congressional committees, the executive branch and federal agencies, key areas of strength of the bipartisan group include tax, trade, healthcare, financial services, energy and environment. The group is also noted for its congressional investigations offering, having recently assisted various corporates and senior executives with high-profile inquiries into the January 6th riot and the Covid-19 crisis. Specialized in international trade and intellectual property matters, Brian Pomper is a leading international trade lobbyist. He oversees the public law policy group alongside Hunter Bates, who covers matters in the tax, healthcare, transportation, technology and financial services segments. Raphael Prober and Karen Christian jointly leads the congressional investigations team and have significant experience in both the public and private sectors. Arshi Siddiqui is noted for her political and private sector experience, serving as senior policy advisor to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and representing corporate clients before Congress and the executive branch.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- International trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Government > Government relations
- Finance > Structured finance: securitization
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- International trade > Trade remedies and trade policy
Firm Rankings
- Investment fund formation and management > Alternative/hedge funds
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Industry focus > Education
- Energy > Energy transactions: oil and gas
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: transactional
- Industry focus > Native American law
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Government > Government contracts
- Labor and employment > Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Labor and employment > Workplace and employment counseling
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- International trade > CFIUS
- Energy > Energy transactions: electric power
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- Industry focus > Sport
- Media, technology and telecoms > Telecoms and broadcast: regulatory
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Real estate > Real estate
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Finance > Structured finance: securitization