Regulatory

National Security

Gibson Dunn’s National Security practice is dedicated to helping clients navigate the complex and evolving landscape of national security risks, including criminal and civil enforcement, physical and cyber threats, complex regulatory landscapes, and public policy matters.

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Overview

Gibson Dunn offers clients worldwide a team of highly experienced and connected practitioners in national security, adept at handling sanctions, export controls, and other national security enforcement and regulatory matters, advising on foreign direct investment, and navigating physical and cyber threats.

Our team includes former senior U.S. federal officials from the National Security Council (NSC), White House, Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of the Treasury, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and other key agencies that make, implement and enforce U.S. security laws and regulations.

We offer a comprehensive range of services, including a counseling practice focused on businesses operating internationally as they work to comply with federal laws and regulations governing cross-border economic transactions. We represent government contractors and other companies involved in classified government programs.

As the U.S. government increasingly looks to the private sector to assist with counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and other national security efforts, including by making demands for information and imposing security mandates, our lawyers have been at the forefront of cutting-edge questions concerning government access to data. And we handle the special challenges presented by civil litigation as well as criminal, regulatory, and congressional investigations that raise national security issues.

The practice is led by Zainab N. Ahmad in New York and David P. Burns in Washington, D.C. Zainab is a former Deputy Chief of the National Security and Cybercrime section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York. David previously served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of DOJ’s National Security Division and as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York’s national security unit.

National Security Enforcement: We represent clients in sanctions, export controls, terrorism financing, money laundering, Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and other criminal, civil, and regulatory investigations conducted by DOJ, OFAC, the Department of Commerce, and other national security agencies. We also handle congressional investigations involving national security matters.
Cybersecurity: We help clients develop robust cybersecurity policies, manage breach responses, and navigate related investigations and litigation. We draw on an international team that includes lawyers in Europe and Asia to seamlessly advise clients on sophisticated multijurisdictional matters.
Government Contracting Advice: We advise clients on compliance with federal laws governing cross-border economic transactions, and classified governance programs.
Government Access to Information: We tackle complex questions related to government demands for information, balancing privacy concerns with law enforcement needs, and challenging surveillance orders when necessary.
National Security Litigation: Our team is skilled in handling cases involving classified information, sovereign immunity, and executive privileges, often working in crisis management scenarios. Our lawyers are well-versed in the complex procedures for handling classified information in federal courts, including the Classified Information Procedures Act and the State Secrets privilege.
National Security Public Policy: Our team, with extensive government experience, advises on policy matters pending before Congress and the Executive Branch, and assists with regulatory approvals and advocacy issues. Our team includes former government officials who were responsible for providing advice to White House and Executive Branch policymakers and addressing congressional oversight of national security programs, as well as senior Capitol Hill staff who ran congressional investigations into national security matters.

Our National Security Practice Group leverages the expertise of various practice groups, including Crisis Management, Financial Institutions, Government Contracts, International Trade, Labor and Employment, Public Policy, Litigation, and White Collar Defense and Investigations.

While in government, our lawyers worked closely with every national security-related agency, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the CIA, the Department of Defense (DoD), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency , the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Homeland Security. We are also fortunate to have on the team numerous former military officers.