Christopher Macchiaroli is a partner in Silverman Thompson’s Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Macchiaroli is a seasoned litigator and trial attorney whose practice covers all facets of civil litigation and criminal defense in state and federal courts in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and New York.
At Silverman Thompson, Christopher Macchiaroli has represented high-profile clients in grand jury and regulatory investigations and criminal prosecutions brought in federal court in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
Christopher Macchiaroli has over 10 years of experience as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Southern District of Florida, where he was both a federal prosecutor—trying both violent crimes and large-scale multi-defendant conspiracy cases—and a civil attorney representing the United States in all aspects of defensive and affirmative civil litigation. He has tried over 50 cases to verdict (28 jury trials), including eight in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, authored over 30 appellate briefs in the D.C. Circuit, the Second Circuit, and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and participated in over 100 criminal and civil evidentiary hearings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Southern District of New York, the Southern District of Florida, and the District of Columbia Superior Court.
Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Mr. Macchiaroli was in private practice in New York and Washington, D.C. at White & Case LLP, where he represented individuals and corporations in a variety of civil and white-collar matters including internal investigations. Mr. Macchiaroli graduated from the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law in December 2003 and was the recipient of the Judge John W. Calhoun Award for Trial Advocacy.
Mr. Macchiaroli’s work has resulted in numerous published decisions and news articles. Due to his diverse experience of civil and criminal work in multiple jurisdictions, Mr. Macchiaroli is a trusted legal writer and commentator, and has been interviewed by The Washington Post and CNN, along with many other news sources. His clients and peers regard him as an open, responsive, hard-working attorney, and one of the best lawyers in Washington, D.C.
- Washington University School of Law - J.D. - 2003
- Boston University - B.A. - 2000
- Criminal Defense
- General Civil Litigation
- Represent multiple individual and corporate clients in grand jury and regulatory investigations and criminal prosecutions in federal court in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia;
- Represent individual and corporate clients against charges of fraudulent applications and improper receipt of pandemic relief funds;
- Represent individual and corporate clients against claims of business-related fraud;
- Represent government officials in investigations and criminal prosecutions alleging obstruction of justice;
- Represent law enforcement officers in internal use of force and civil rights investigations and prosecutions;
- Represent witnesses before Congressional hearings;
- Represent corporate clients in response to Government regulatory subpoenas;
- Represent individual and corporate clients in commercial business-related civil litigation;
- Represent clients in employment-related disputes and adverse employment actions;
- Appointed as Criminal Justice Act counsel in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for all types of federal crimes, to include drug and gun trafficking, sex crimes, January 6-related prosecutions, and violations of civil rights.
- United States v. Stolt-Nielsen SA, 524 F. Supp. 2d 609 (E.D. Pa. 2007) (participated in team that obtained dismissal of indictment following a multi-week evidentiary hearing);
- United States v. Anthony Fields, et al., 18-cr-267 (APM) (D.D.C.) (convicted multiple defendants in lengthy conspiracy trial of maintaining an open-air drug market in Southeast, Washington, D.C.);
- United States v. Dwight Hayman, et al., 16-cr-169 (APM) (D.D.C.) (prosecuted 16 defendants in a Title-III narcotics conspiracy that resulted in the seizure of narcotics, firearms, and large amounts of U.S. currency);
- United States v. Keith Young, 17-cr-83 (KBJ) (D.D.C.) (convicted self-proclaimed drug kingpin of narcotics trafficking following a jury trial where the defendant was in possession of two kilograms of heroin laced with fentanyl, a firearm, and nearly two hundred rounds of ammunition);
- United States v. Demetrius Muschetta, et al., 15-cr-76 (BAH) (D.D.C.) (prosecuted 15 defendants in a Title-III narcotics conspiracy that resulted in the seizure of kilograms of narcotics and firearms);
- United States v. Jonathan Blades, 2014 CF1 2153 (D.C. Sup. Ct.) (convicted defendant of assault with intent to kill while armed following a jury trial where the defendant sprayed a downtown D.C. street with bullets following an altercation outside of a D.C. nightclub that resulted in a victim being shot and rendered unconscious);
- Vertex Telecom, Inc. v. XO Commc’ns, Inc., No. 06-cv-1209 (E.D. Va.) (JCC) (obtained temporary restraining order barring defendant from disrupting service to 1.2 million customers);
- Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc., et al. v. Xinyi Group Glass Co., Ltd., No. 05-cv-520-GPM, 2008 WL 3992687 (S.D. Ill. Aug. 22, 2008) (secured dismissal of third-party complaint against foreign glass manufacturer);
- Curley v. Gateway Concrete Forming Sys., Inc., No. 10-2386, 2010 WL 4608754 (Ill. App. Ct. Nov. 5, 2010) (secured dismissal of complaint against foreign wood manufacturer);
- Zina Hunter v. District of Columbia, 08-cv-256 (RBW) (D.D.C) (obtained six-figure settlement and reinstatement of employment for client following a civil action alleging sexual harassment and wrongful termination).
- Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, 2012-2019
- Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, 2009-2012
- Refining the Contours of General Jurisdiction Over Foreign Corporations, 11 HOFSTRA J. INT’L BUS. & L. 49 (2012) (co-author);
- To Speak or Not to Speak: Can Pre-Miranda Silence Be Used as Substantive Evidence of Guilt?, 33 THE CHAMPION 14 (2009);
- Rewriting the Record: A Federal Court Split on the Scope of Permissible Changes to a Deposition Transcript, 3 FED CTS. L. REV. 1 (2009) (co-author);
- Two Decades After Asahi, Questions Remain, 3 BLOOMBERG L. RPTS. No. 17 (Apr. 2009) (co-author).
- CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, February 14, 2020, Roger Stone DOJ Prosecution
- NBC LX, July 9, 2020, Fallout: How Two Recent Court Decisions Will Impact U.S. Asylum Seekers
- The Hill, May 11, 2021, Troubles Grow For Gaetz As Former Associate Flips
- The Hill, April 25, 2021, Capitol Riot Probes Home In On Oath Keepers
- The Washington Post, April 19, 2021, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, Who Engaged Rioters, Suffered Two Strokes And Died Of Natural Causes, Officials Say
- The Daily Beast, May 9, 2011, A Twisted Church Attack Shows the High Bar for Hate Crimes in America
- Assistant United States Attorneys Association of the District of Columbia
- Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia
- Fraternal Order of Police Legal Defense Plan Counsel