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Morrison Foerster's National Security Practice Recognized in Chambers USA 2022

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The Chambers USA 2022 guide recognized the National Security group in the “International Trade: CFIUS Experts” and “International Trade: Export Controls & Economic Sanctions: Highly Regarded” categories. We could not be more appreciative of our clients and their continued trust in our team.

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The Chambers USA 2022 guide recognized the National Security group in the “International Trade: CFIUS Experts” and “International Trade: Export Controls & Economic Sanctions: Highly Regarded” categories. We could not be more appreciative of our clients and their continued trust in our team.<div style="position: relative;width: auto;padding-top: 0px;padding-right: 0px;padding-bottom: 215.38%;padding-left: 0px;height: 0px;top: 0px;left: 0px;bottom: 0px;right: 0px;margin-top: 0px;margin-right: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;margin-left: 0px;border-top-width: 0px;border-right-width: 0px;border-bottom-width: 0px;border-left-width: 0px;border-top-style: none;border-right-style: none;border-bottom-style: none;border-left-style: none;border-top-color: initial;border-right-color: initial;border-bottom-color: initial;border-left-color: initial;border-image-source: initial;border-image-slice: initial;border-image-width: initial;border-image-outset: initial;border-image-repeat: initial;" id="experience-62a0f1ee57fc2" data-aspectratio="0.46428571" data-mobile-aspectratio="0.43548387"><iframe src="//view.ceros.com/mofo/awards-infographic-1-12-7-2?heightOverride=1400&mobileHeightOverride=1240" frameborder="0" class="ceros-experience" title="Chambers USA 2022 National Security Group" scrolling="no" height="1300" title="iframe"></iframe></div>

Morrison Foerster's National Security Practice Recognized in Chambers USA 2022

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<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe class="sticky-video" allowfullscreen="1" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" frameborder="0" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/JqKSMBInKJ0?rel=0" title="Meet John Smith" title="iframe"></iframe></div>John E. Smith, former Director of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), is co-head of Morrison Foerster’s National Security practice, and a member of the Crisis Management group and Investigations + White Collar group. After serving 11 years as a top official at OFAC and three years as its Director, Mr. Smith brings to the firm unmatched experience in <a href="/capabilities/national-security.html#SanctionsEmbargoes">economic sanctions</a>, enforcement, and national security.Both in the United States and globally, clients turn to Mr. Smith for his deep experience and unique perspective on the complexities and escalating risk of U.S. and multilateral sanctions. He is a trusted advisor for clients navigating significant civil and criminal enforcement actions by U.S. and other government prosecutors and regulators.While serving as a top official at OFAC, Mr. Smith was centrally involved in all aspects of developing, implementing, and enforcing U.S. government sanctions requirements. As OFAC Director, he oversaw every OFAC enforcement case against financial institutions and global operating companies.  Mr. Smith played a pivotal role as OFAC moved to the center of our nation’s response to the world’s most complex and challenging national security and foreign policy crises, working closely with other governments and multilateral agencies and the private sector.Mr. Smith has leading expertise on U.S. sanctions, anti-money laundering (AML), and export controls cases and policies. While serving at OFAC, he worked closely with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to pursue major sanctions and export controls enforcement matters, including significant civil and criminal penalties against major global actors and noteworthy cases against malicious cyber actors. He has overseen the U.S. government’s economic sanctions efforts, imposing sanctions on heads of state, countries, and illicit actors, conducting enforcement actions against dozens of major financial institutions and companies around the world, and developing innovative sanctions enforcement policies to address evolving U.S. national security priorities.Under his leadership as a top official at OFAC, Mr Smith:<ul><li>Supervised the investigation, preparation, strategy, and settlement of dozens of major enforcement cases for hundreds of millions of dollars involving apparent sanctions and export control violations by global financial institutions and corporations; </li><li>Led the development and imposition of some of the most significant sanctions ever involving Iran, Russia, North Korea, Syria, supporters of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction proliferators, malicious cyber actors, transnational criminal organizations, and narcotics traffickers; and</li><li>Acted for a period as the Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI), overseeing economic sanctions, illicit finance, and AML efforts by OFAC and other TFI components, including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). </li></ul>Prior to Mr. Smith’s 11-year tenure at OFAC, he served as the only American on a Security Council panel of experts charged with monitoring the implementation of UN-mandated sanctions on Al-Qaida and the Taliban. In this role, he led assessment visits to more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Gulf, meeting with top-ranking government officials, central banks, customs and export control offices, and intelligence agencies, as well as many of their financial institutions.Mr. Smith also served as a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the DOJ for five years. During his tenure, he defended U.S. agencies including OFAC in challenges to significant government programs and statutes, including the USA PATRIOT Act, the 2000 Census, and other matters involving highly sensitive and classified information. Mr. Smith acted as the lead trial counsel in defending the first legal challenges to the terrorist asset freezing program implemented by OFAC following September 11, 2001.Mr. Smith has received numerous noteworthy accolades throughout his career, including the Alexander Hamilton Award, the top award given by the U.S. Department of the Treasury (2018); and the Special Commendation for Outstanding Service (Anti-Terrorism), awarded by the DOJ (2002).Before joining the DOJ, Mr. Smith was a litigation attorney at a major international law firm. He also served as a law clerk for The Honorable Anthony J. Scirica on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.Mr. Smith received his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law as a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems. He graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-Columbia, with dual degrees of a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a Bachelor of Journalism.

John Smith

Partner

Charles Capito is a partner in both Morrison Foerster’s National Security and Government Contracts + Public Procurement practices.In the National Security space, he has significant experience counseling clients on the complex and evolving considerations related to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Charles frequently helps investors and U.S. businesses through every aspect of the CFIUS process, from understanding and allocating CFIUS risk on the front end, to presenting cases before the Committee, to negotiating appropriate mitigation measures, and ultimately to implementing and complying with mitigation agreements after the fact. Charles’ experience includes securing clearances for some of the largest and most sensitive cases reviewed by CFIUS, as well as dozens of more discreet transactions and investments.Charles regularly advises clients on critical regulatory regimes in the national security space. Whether in the context of specific transactions or day-to-day counseling, clients rely on Charles to help them comply with and operate under U.S. export controls, in particular, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR). These regimes, especially the EAR, are undergoing noteworthy and complex changes, and now play key roles in other legal regimes like CFIUS. In addition, government contractors with access to classified information and their investors go to Charles to understand their obligations under the National Industrial Security Program (NISP) and, in particular, the sensitive issues presented by foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI) in this space.Companies operating in today’s national security space are wise to take a holistic view of the legal environment incorporating not only their legal obligations today, but also the wider geopolitical landscape to plan for the future. Charles speaks and writes regularly on these and other topics in the national security space, and has been recognized by legal publications like Chambers USA and Best Lawyers for his expertise in these areas.Charles is also a seasoned Government Contracts practitioner, assisting government contractors with a wide variety of compliance and litigation issues. This includes the numerous national security issues government contractors face when they are subject to FOCI, manufacture or export defense articles under the ITAR or sensitive dual-use technology under EAR, or are required to understand and comply with recent compliance regimes like Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. Charles also has years of experience on pre- and post-award bid protests before the Government Accountability Office and the Court of Federal Claims, and contracts claims and disputes before the boards of contract appeals, and other judicial and administrative tribunals.  Additionally, he counsels clients on prime- and subcontractor disputes, small business issues, compliance with federal procurement regulations, and government contracts mergers and acquisitions.Charles graduated from Washington & Lee University School of Law, where he served as senior articles editor of the Washington & Lee Law Review. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University.

Charles Capito

National Security, CFIUS, FARA, Sanctions + Export Controls