DEPARTMENT
ZOOMING IN ON THE FUTURE OF TECH LAW
Jake Christensen ’16 on regulatory leadership, technology and defining success
When Jake Christensen ’16 began his law school search, Washington, D.C., had already emerged as the place where he and his husband planned to build their next chapter. What ultimately drew him to American University Washington College of Law, he reflected, was something deeper than geography.
“It wasn’t just a name,” Christensen recalled. “There was a real personality to the school.”
Conversations with alumni sealed the decision, reinforcing the sense that AUWCL was a place where students were prepared not just to study the law, but to practice it.
Today, Christensen is senior counsel at Zoom. His role sits at the intersection of law, technology and trust. He helps guide one of the world’s most recognizable platforms through an increasingly complex global regulatory environment.
From the Classroom to the Global Stage During law school, Christensen externed with Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was active in The American University Law Review, moot court, the Marshall- Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, the Criminal Justice Clinic and as an Integrated Curriculum Dean’s Fellow.
“I really tried to go all in,” he explained. “I wanted to make the most of the experience and everything the school offered.”
35 THE ADVOCATE SUMMER/FALL 2026
Immediately aſter graduation, Christensen joined ArentFox Schiff and spent his first year at the firm relying heavily on the analytical, writing, and problem-solving skills he honed at AUWCL.
“There wasn’t time for a lot of training,” he noted. “I was able to step in right away and lean on my AUWCL education.”
A Dynamic Role at Zoom Christensen joined Zoom nearly four years ago to help build the company’s global regulatory compliance program. Since then, his portfolio has expanded, reflecting the reality of in-house practice at a fast- moving technology company.
His work includes supporting compliance with Federal Trade Commission obligations, conducting internal investigations, responding to customer complaints and third-party subpoenas, and supporting product launches and market expansion. He also helps lead Zoom’s Content Legal Review program.
“The tension is that regulation oſten struggles to keep pace with fast-developing technology,” he noted. “You are sometimes complying with laws that did not fully contemplate how the technology is actually being used.”
For him, what remains constant, he said, is the value of the AUWCL community, which continues to provide a shared foundation and lasting professional connections.
Jake Christensen ’16
Christensen helped establish the Professor Stephen Wermiel Moot Court Endowed Fund, in honor of longtime AUWCL Professor Stephen Wermiel ’82, who retired this year aſter decades of teaching constitutional law and mentoring generations of students in the Moot Court Honor Society.
To join Christensen and others in honoring Professor Wermiel and supporting moot court activities, AUWCL invites you to donate to the fund at
https://tinyurl.com/ Wermiel-Fund. — By Keith Pierce
To Donate
tinyurl.com/ Wermiel-Fund
Read the Full Story
tinyurl.com/ Jake-Christensen
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW 35
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