Christopher M. Santomassimo

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Christopher M. Santomassimo

Christopher M. Santomassimo

Partner

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New Jersey General Counsel

Biography

Chris is a Partner on our Business Counseling and Compliance & Corporate Governance Teams, where he brings his extensive experience, including as a current General Counsel and a Chief Compliance Officer, to assist companies with a wide range of legal and business issues. He specializes in ethics and compliance counseling; corporate investigations; complex tort, products liability and business litigation; product safety and risk management programs; employment law and litigation; and general corporate matters. He has served for several years as the General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer of Agfa Corporation, a multinational manufacturing and technology company, where he continues to be responsible for all aspects of the company’s portfolio of legal and compliance matters. Prior to joining Agfa, Chris was the first Senior Counsel & Director of Risk Management for a global consumer electronics manufacturer, where he developed the company’s first corporate compliance program and managed an extensive array of product safety programs, product recalls, ethics-and- compliance work, and litigation. Chris has created and administered ethics-and-compliance programs and all of their components “from the ground up,” and conducted related investigations. His in-house experience is preceded by a dozen years of litigation experience at top national and regional law firms, representing large and small manufacturers in products liability, toxic tort, environmental and commercial litigation.

Professional Activities

  • Partner, Nicoll Davis & Spinella (March 2009 to present)
  • General Counsel, Secretary & Chief Compliance Officer, Agfa Corporation (Ridgefield Park, NJ) (2007 to present).
  • New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association/Association of Corporate Counsel: Director (2007-2009); Founding Chairman of the Ethics, Compliance & Corporate Governance Committee (2007-2009), Chairman of Sponsorships Subcommittee of Finance Committee (2006-2007), and Editor of ACC Docket magazine (2008-2009).
  • Bergen County (NJ) Bar Association, Corporate Law Committee.
  • New Jersey State Bar Association: Products Liability and Toxic Tort Section, Director and Secretary (1996-1999).
  • New Jersey Defense Association: Vice Chair, Young Lawyers Committee, Seminars Subcommittee (2000- 2001).
  • Montclair State University: Adjunct Professor, Department of Legal Studies (1997).

Community Activities

  • Director (Volunteer), Board of Directors, Susan G. Komen Foundation, North Jersey Affiliate (April 2014 to present)

Recent Publications and Speaking Engagements

  • “THE LATEST CORPORATE GOVERNANCE TOOLS” NJ State Bar Association, 2017 Corporate Counsel Institute (Speaker/Panelist; February, 2017)
  • “IS YOUR COMPLIANCE PROGRAM ON TRACK?” SCCE Regional Compliance & Ethics Conference (Speaker/Present; October,  2016)
  • “WORKING WITH THE SALES OPERATION,” Compliance Week, 2015 Conference (Speaker; May 2015).
  • “CRIME DOESN’T PAY! FINANCE EXECUTIVES AS CORPORATE FRAUD GATEKEEPERS AND INVESTIGATORS,” CFO Innovation Conference & Awards, (Speaker; May 2015).
  • “MANAGING LEGAL, REGULATORY, AND BUSINESS RISK: A CREATIVE DIALOGUE BETWEEN CFOs AND GENERAL COUNSELS,” CFO Innovation Conference & Awards, (Moderator/Speaker; May 2015).
  • “IS YOUR ORGANIZATION “COMPLIANCE FIT?,” New Jersey Corporate Compliance Roundtable (Speaker/Moderator; April 2015).
  • “THE TRANSPORT OF RECENTLY PURCHASED AUTOMOBILES OVERSEAS: THE STATE OF LAW, CURRENT ISSUES AND TRENDS,” National Association of Dealer Counsel, 2014 Fall Conference (Speaker; October 2014).
  • “DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOU HAVE TO SELECT YOUR JURY TO THINK ABOUT JURY CONSULTING,” New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association (Speaker/ Moderator; September 2014).
  • “MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF TODAY’S NEW ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE SOURCES: SOCIAL MEDIA AND MOBILE DEVICE DATA IN COMPLEX AND NON-COMPLEX LITIGATION MATTERS,” New Jersey Corporate Compliance Roundtable (Moderator; May 2014).
  • “HEAR IT FROM THE FBI: COMPLIANCE PRIORITIES FOR 2014,” New Jersey Corporate Compliance Roundtable (Speaker/Moderator; March 2014).
  • “HARMONIZING CORPORATE MANAGERS’ AND ATTORNEYS’ APPROACHES TO ETHICAL DILEMMAS,” Rutgers Business School’s Institute for Ethical Leadership, Rutgers University Law School and New Jersey Corporate Compliance Roundtable (Speaker/Presenter; December 2013).
  • “COMPLIANCE RISK ASSESSMENTS: BEST PRACTICES FOR IN-HOUSE COUNSEL,” New Jersey Corporate Compliance Roundtable (Speaker/Moderator; April 2013).
  • “DEFENSIBLY DOWNSIZING YOUR DATA: WHERE TO START WITH RECORDS RETENTION AND DEFENSIBLE DELETION,” New Jersey Corporate Compliance Roundtable (Speaker/ Moderator; February 2013).
  • “COMPLIANCE PRIORITIES FOR 2013 AND BEST PRACTICES,” New Jersey Corporate Compliance Roundtable (Speaker/ Moderator; February 2013).
  • “ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING CHALLENGES FOR PRIVATE EQUITY AND HEDGE FUNDS,” Foundation for Accounting Education, New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (Speaker/Presenter; October 2012).
  • “RECORDS MANAGEMENT ROADMAP: THE CONNECTION TO CORPORATE COMPLIANCE PROGRAMS,” New Jersey Corporate Compliance Roundtable (Speaker/ Moderator; March 2012).
  • “NIPPING THE HAND THAT FEEDS: COMPLIANCE INVESTIGATIONS OF SENIOR EXECUTIVES,” Association of Corporate Counsel (Speaker/Presenter; Annual Meeting, October 2011).
  • “INTERNAL INVESTIGATIONS: BEST PRACTICES FOR IN-HOUSE COUNSEL,” New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association (Speaker/ Moderator; September 2011).
  • “WHY YOUR COMPANY NEEDS A COMPLIANCE PROGRAM,” presented to the International Executive Resource Group, New York Chapter (Speaker/ Moderator; September 2010).
  • “THE VALUE PROPOSITION FOR COMPLIANCE, AND CONDUCTING RISK ASSESSMENTS,” New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association (Speaker/ Moderator; October 2010).
  • “YOUR STAY-OUT-OF-JAIL CARD: WHY YOUR COMPANY NEEDS A COMPLIANCE-AND-ETHICS PROGRAM,” New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association (Speaker/ Moderator; September 2009).
  • “HOT TOPICS IN ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE,” New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association (Speaker/ Moderator; 2008).
  • C.M. Santomassimo, et al., “MANAGING IN THE WAKE OF INCREASING CORPORATE PRIVILEGE THREATS,” ACC Docket (monthly publication of Association of Corporate Counsel) (2007).
  • “MASS TORTS: DEFENDING THE COMPANY IN THE FIRST 90 DAYS,” New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association (Speaker/Presenter; 2007).
  • “UPGRADING YOUR GOVERNANCE STANDARDS TO MINIMIZE RISK OF EMPLOYEE MISCONDUCT.” As part of “Conducting and Responding to Investigations,” American Conference Institute (Speaker/Presenter; 2007).
  • “ELECTRONIC DISCOVERY: THE NEW FEDERAL E-DISCOVERY RULES, MODERN RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND YOU: PERFECT TOGETHER,” Moderator and Organizer, for New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association (2007).

Admissions

  • New Jersey, 1992
  • New York, 1993
  • United States Supreme Court, 2013
  • U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, 1992
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 2000
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 2000

Education

  • Syracuse University College of Law: J.D., 1992
  • Boston University, School of Management: B.S., Business Administration, 1989