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; 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. At Coudert he worked primarily for European and Asian companies and families. 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 October 1978 he joined Heller, Ehrman White & McAuliffe’s Hong Kong office and became a Heller Ehrman partner at the end of 1980. Chris returned to the United States in 1986 and became resident in California 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.

After retiring as a Heller Ehrman shareholder in 2004, Chris opened his own law offices under the name Christopher S. Armstrong, P.C. in January 2005. On January 1, 2012 Christopher S. Armstrong, P.C. entered into partnership with Diana M. Hastings, P.C. under the name Armstrong & Hastings, LLP.

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

• Fellow, American College of Trust & Estate Counsel
• Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, San Francisco Branch

• Bar Association of San Francisco
• International Fiscal Association, USA Branch

HONORS

• 2009-2011 Northern California Super Lawyer, Estate Planning, Law & Politics