MoFo National Security Partner and Former U.S. Department of Commerce Senior Advisor Chris Chamberlain Brings Practice to APAC

Morrison Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce Chris Chamberlain, partner in the National Security Group, has relocated to the firm’s Singapore office. Chamberlain brings more than 15 years of U.S. government agency and private practice experience in national security and trade regulatory issues, with a specialization in export controls, as well as in industries spanning semiconductors, AI, data centers, and defense trade.

Chamberlain joined Morrison Foerster in July 2025 in Washington, D.C. He was previously a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), where he focused on developing and implementing semiconductor export controls, especially those related to manufacturing equipment. Since joining MoFo, Chamberlain has advised on high-stakes export control and national security issues across numerous matters, including major M&A transactions in the semiconductor industry, such as Veeco’s $4.4 billion merger with Axcelis, and a variety of transactions involving AI data center projects across Asia and globally.

“Demand for technology and related data and infrastructure is markedly high, and for our clients this is coupled with a dynamic and evolving geopolitical landscape,” said Bita Rahebi, Vice Chair, Morrison Foerster. “Chris’s experience and credentials, combined with MoFo’s platform and strength of its national security practice worldwide, position him well for success in supporting innovative companies as they look to mitigate national security risks on their most complex cross-border transactions across Asia.”

As a former Senior Advisor at BIS, Chamberlain helped develop and implement BIS’s export controls and other semiconductor-related regulatory programs, and he played a central role in formulating the rules for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. He has significant experience with items and industries involving encryption, telecommunications, microelectronics and computers, radar/lidar and other sensors/lasers, test and inspection, cloud services, open-source software, and various emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Morrison Foerster has a deep and growing bench of former U.S. government and national security practitioners, having recently welcomed Annie Wartanian Reisinger, former U.S. Treasury Senior Counsel for International Affairs (July 2026); Jason Lebowitz, former Senior Counsel in the Office of the Chief Counsel for Industry and Security at the Department of Commerce (May 2026); Kuang Chiang, a former Treasury official and experienced practitioner at another leading global law firm (October 2025); Margot Benedict, former Senior Counselor to the Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where she managed the national security, privacy, and international affairs portfolios (April 2025); Anna Faber, a former attorney at the U.S. Department of Commerce (April 2025); and Kara Podraza, former Deputy Chief of Staff of the DOJ’s National Security Division (December 2025).

Morrison Foerster’s market-leading National Security platform advises clients on evolving geopolitical, trade, and enforcement risks. Led by Brandon Van Grack, John E. Smith, and David Newman, Morrison Foerster’s National Security practice has earned multiple industry recognitions, including being one of only two firms ranked across Chambers USA’s National Security, International Trade: Export Controls & Economic Sanctions, and International Trade: CFIUS Experts categories; and within The Legal 500 US’s International Trade: National Security, International Trade: Customs, Export Controls and Economic Sanctions, and International Trade: CFIUS categories.

“MoFo’s technology capabilities and platform in Asia were central to my decision to come to the firm, and to pursue work more directly in the region,” said Chamberlain. “Organizations are navigating increasingly complex and even contradictory global regulatory regimes, and addressing them requires a high degree of coordination across disciplines and markets. The firm’s diverse experience and breadth of practices, alongside its integrated approach to cross-border work have been critical to client outcomes on these issues in my time here so far. I look forward to deepening those collaborations by working more directly with our practices and clients across Asia.”