Christopher L. Kannady, P.L.C.

Mr. Kannady deployed to Iraq with the Legal Service Support Team in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, prosecuting cases throughout Iraq for the Marine Corps, while also managing detainee operations. During his stateside service, Mr. Kannady served as a criminal defense lawyer for several years, litigating specialized cases involving homicide, rape, drug-related offenses, and multifaceted conspiracy cases. While on active duty, he maintained a remarkable 97 percent retention rate among the clients he represented. He also served as defense counsel in the Guantanamo Bay military commissions, which took him to operational environments in Afghanistan, Sudan, and Qatar for highly sensitive investigative missions. In these missions, he successfully balanced national security matters with diplomatic negotiations. He was instrumental in the release of one of his clients and negotiated one of the few pretrial agreements leading to the release of another. Mr. Kannady's success in these negotiations required balancing the interests of his client with the demands of several intelligence agencies, the Department of Justice, and the State Department.

Mr. Kannady graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Letters from the University of Oklahoma. He later completed both a Master of Business Administration and a Juris Doctor from the same institution. Additionally, Mr. Kannady holds a Master of Laws in National Security and Foreign Relations Law from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he practiced law and became a member of the bar. In November 2014, Mr. Kannady was elected to the Oklahoma State House of Representatives for District 91 in South Oklahoma City, where he serves as the Judiciary Chair. He was recently re-elected with 83% of the vote. His current rank in the Air National Guard is Colonel.

• LL.M. in National Security and Foreign Relations Law, George Washington University

• J.D., University of Oklahoma

• M.B.A., University of Oklahoma

• B.A., University of Oklahoma

• U.S. Supreme Court

• U.S. Federal Court of Claims

• D.C. District Court

• Western District of Oklahoma

• Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces

• Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals

• Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals

• Army Court of Criminal Appeals

• Oklahoma Supreme Court

• D.C. Superior Court

• West Virginia Supreme Court

• Counter-Terrorism, International Law and Practice, ISBN: 978-0-19-960892-8, (2012): Chapter 27-“The ‘Push-Pull’ of the Law of War: The Rule of Law and e Military Commissions”

• Military Law and the Law of War Review, 48/1-2, 165-210 (2009): “60 Days to Freedom-The Release and Repatriation of Mohammad Jawad”

• American Indian Law Review, published at 29 Am. Indian L. Rev. 363 (2004-2005):

• “The State, Cherokee Nation, and Same Sex Unions: In Re Marriage License of McKinley and Reynolds”

• Oklahoma Journal of Law and Technology, published at 1 OKLA. J.L. & TECH. 9 (2004): “The Do Not Call List: Will It Survive?”

• District of Columbia

• Oklahoma

• West Virginia