Chris Armstrong's practice includes estate and tax planning and conflict resolution with particular emphasis on foreign and cross-border issues. He has developed numerous estate plans for nonresident alien individuals having U.S. children or grandchildren and for senior executives who have migrated to or from California; he has updated and repaired existing complex multi-jurisdictional estate plans; he frequently counsels U.S. persons who receive foreign gifts or distributions from foreign trusts; he prepares marital property contracts in accordance with California law; on several occasions he has represented one or more members of a multi-national family in disputed inheritance claims; and he has structured “in bound” cross-border investments and loans for both foreign and domestic clients.

Chris began his legal career in New York City with Coudert Brothers, an international law firm. At Coudert he worked primarily for European and Asian companies and families. In 1977 he transferred to Coudert’s Hong Kong office, and in 1978, he joined Heller Ehrman’s Hong Kong office. From 1977 to 1986, Chris practiced as a foreign attorney in the jurisdiction of Hong Kong, where he represented non-U.S. clients in a variety of tax and estate planning matters. In 1986, Chris returned to the United States, where he has continued to represent numerous clients resident in Asia while expanding his client base to include families and businesses in the Americas and Europe. He opened his law offices at Two Embarcadero Center San Francisco, CA in January 2005, after retiring as a Heller Ehrman shareholder.

EDUCATION

Phillips Andover Academy (1962),

Yale University (B.A., 1966);

Columbia University Law School (J.D., 1972);

Columbia Journal of Transnational Law;

Hague Academy of International Law (Summer Session, 1972);

New York University (LL.M., Taxation, 1977).

MILITARY EXPERIENCE

LT USNR

USS John R Perry DE 1034 (1966 - 1969)

ADMISSIONS

California (1986)

New York (1973)

MEMBERSHIPS

Bar Association of San Francisco

Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, San Francisco Branch

International Fiscal Association.