Christian M. Hudson

Clients turn to Christian for help understanding the legal challenges generated by media attention. He works with them to provide legal due diligence for transaction, litigation, investigation and government affairs matters, as well as designs and implements plans to engage the media and third-party stakeholders as part of a legal strategy.

Borrowers, lenders and investors also seek Christian's representation in joint ventures, financings, acquisitions and dispositions. He negotiates, reorganizes and recapitalizes commercial, hospitality and healthcare portfolios and then counsels such clients on how to better understand transaction liabilities in an evolving media landscape.

During his years as a CNN television news producer, he launched numerous shows including Wolf Blitzer Reports and The Situation Room, which became the template for the network's breaking news, election night coverage and many shows on CNN today. He produced stories internationally while traveling in the Middle East covering terrorism, the Israel/Lebanon war and the invasion of Iraq. He oversaw editorial content for all reporters/producers filing for The Situation Room and Wolf Blitzer Reports, including supervising all international, war zone and conflict zone reports. During his producing tenure at CNN, he covered every congressional, gubernatorial and presidential election from 1994 until leaving to practice law in 2007. When he left CNN, The Situation Room was ranked number one among its competitors.

Christian's pro-bono practice centers around counseling journalists currently in and contemplating entering conflict zones.

• Manufacturers in trade disputes involving legal questions litigated in press coverage.
• A publicly traded company in regard to a Department of Justice settlement.
• A chief financial officer in a matter with his publicly traded company.
• A consortium of companies on the development, drafting and ultimate implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
• And managed a jeopardized Senate confirmation.

  Advised:

• Clients on legal and media issues surrounding security breaches, including a large financial entity.
• Businesses on the impact of financial regulation and reform proposals on their bottom line.

  He has also:

• Helped found a previous firm's Financial Industry Recovery Group to track the financial recovery and the impact on businesses.
• Assisted in facilitating the safe and successful extraction of approximately 150 college students from a conflict zone to the U.S. to attend college.
• Successfully secured offers of college admission for approximately 150 college students from a war-torn country.

  Served as pro bono counsel to:

• The family of an American reporter detained in Libya to successfully facilitate the release of the reporter and several other detained individuals.
• Journalists facing threats and/or contemplating entering into a conflict zone.

Reputation Risk & Media Crisis Management for Transactions

Represented:

• Clients in real estate capital markets, investment trusts, joint ventures, financings, development, acquisitions, dispositions, restructurings and workouts, in addition to traditional business transactions.
• Clients in commercial, hospitality, residential and health care real estate portfolio transactions.
• A billion-dollar commercial Class A property portfolio.
• A joint venture to recapitalize a billion-dollar commercial Class A property portfolio.
• Companies in the hospitality industry involving hotel acquisitions, dispositions and financings, management and franchise agreements, and public offerings.

  He has also:

• Advised real estate investment trusts as well as other public and private companies with regard to their acquisitions, dispositions, financings and development projects.
• Negotiated a joint venture to acquire a billion-dollar hotel property portfolio.