Chris Simkins is the Managing Member and Founder of Laconia Law & Consulting.  He is also CEO and Co-Founder of Shouldrs, Inc., a B2B SaaS company that is using AI to make back-office processes for small businesses fully autonomous.

Mr. Simkins is an entrepreneur, lawyer and consultant, with deep commercial and government experience protecting information and technology against security risks. Previously, he was the CEO and Co-Founder of Corsha, a cybersecurity company focused on securing machine-to-machine communications, and the CEO and Co-Founder of Chain Security, a professional services company focused on identifying and mitigating product development and supply chain security vulnerabilities.

He served in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), first in the Counterespionage Section and then as Senior Counsel to the Assistants Attorney General for the Criminal Division and the National Security Division.  He led a wide range of national security investigations and prosecutions and provided legal support for security programs. He was DOJ’s representative on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), which conducts national security reviews of foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies. While on CFIUS, he reviewed hundreds of transactions and was the primary negotiator for the Committee in a number of high-profile CFIUS reviews.

Mr. Simkins practiced law with two law firms in Washington, DC (WilmerHale and Covington).

Mr. Simkins currently serves as an Outside Director for Zetec, Inc. and as the sole proxy holder for a biotechnology company.