Christopher M. Santomassimo

Christopher M. Santomassimo

Founding Partner
Office: (201) 268-3170 (Direct)
Email Chris

Christopher M. Santomassimo, a senior business-oriented General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, who assists companies with a wide range of legal and business issues to manage the risk of their operations.

Chris’s  Outside General Counsel™ practice covers a broad spectrum of concerns facing business clients on a daily basis, such as  employment counseling and defending companies against employment claims;  ethics and compliance counseling; corporate investigations; advising company executives on business and legal issues; and all types of corporate transactions, to name a few.

Chris’s focus is delivering strategic and cost-effective counseling to business clients, including several U.S. subsidiaries of global companies headquartered outside the United States.

In his spare time, Chris likes to play golf, and root for the New York Yankees and the Syracuse Orange basketball team along with his wife, son and daughter.

Bar Admissions

  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Pennsylvania
  • Supreme Court of the United States of America
  • U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York

Education

  • Juris Doctor, Syracuse University College of Law
  • Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Boston University, Questrom School of Business

Classes/Seminars

  • “COVID-19 Vaccines: Navigating Workplace Issues,” OGC Solutions Webinar, September 2021.
  • “Ethical Dilemmas and the CFO,” panel; presentation and webinar, CFO Leadership Council, May 2021.
  • “ Marijuana and The Workplace: What’s New for 2021,” OGC Solutions Webinar, April 2021.
  • “Update:   Managing Employee Risk as Your Company Pivots Back from COVID-19,” OGC Solutions Webinar, March 2021.
  • “ Managing Employee Risk as Your Company Pivots Back from COVID-19,” CFO Leadership Council, February 2021.
  • “ Managing Employee Risk as Your Company Pivots Back from COVID-19,” OGC Solutions Webinar, February 2021.
  • “ The Pivot Plan from COVID-19: What Employers and Job Seekers Need to Know About Surviving in a Digital World,” OGC Solutions Webinar, February 2021.
  • “The Paycheck Protection Program: What’s New and What’s Next,” OGC Solutions Webinar, January 2021.
  • “Handling Mandatory Vaccine Issues Through COVID-19,” OGC Solutions Webinar, December 2020
  • “Updated COVID-19 Webinar: Develop Return-to-Work Plans and Manage Employees Through the ‘Second Wave’ of COVID-19,” OGC Solutions Webinar Presentation, December 2020.
  • “How to Develop Return-to-Work Plan and Manage Employees Through COVID-19,” OGC Solutions Webinar Presentation, October 2020.
  • “So, You Want to Be a Federal Contractor? Hot Topics and Strategies for Compliance and Risk Management,” OGC Solutions Webinar Presentation, October 2020.
  • “The Office: Reimagining and Reestablishing the Workplace in the Wake of COVID-19,” OGC Solutions Webinar Presentation, May 2020.
  • “Planning Your Company’s Pivot from COVID-19 and Return to Work Plan,” OGC Solutions Webinar Presentation, May 2020.
  • “Protecting Your Company in Chaotic Times: The CFO Objective And COVID-19,” OGC Solutions Webinar Presentation in cooperation with CFO Studio, March 2020.
  • “COVID-19: Federal Payroll Protection Act loans under the CARES Act: what to know, how much money you can get, and how to maximize loan forgiveness,” OGC Solutions Webinar Presentation, March 2020.
  • “Significant Legal, Regulatory & Employment Risks Facing CFOs and their Companies,” CFO Studio, CFO Innovation Conference, October 2019.
  • “Strategies to Help you Cope,” NJMEP’s Manufacturing Day, October 2019.
  • “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).
  • Christopher M. Santomassimo, et al., “Managing in the Wake of Increasing Corporate Privilege Threats,” ACC Docket (a 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).

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • General Counsel, Secretary & Chief Compliance Officer, Agfa Corporation (Carlstadt, 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).
  • 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).
  • Director (Volunteer), Board of Directors, Susan G. Komen Foundation, North Jersey Affiliate (2014 – 2016)