CFIUS and National Security Attorneys Join Kirkland
Kirkland & Ellis is pleased to announce that Dan Gerkin and Nathan Mitchell have joined the Firm as partners, along with Michelle Weinbaum, who joins as an associate. They will continue their practice advising clients on international trade and national security issues, including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). They join leading international trade and national security partner Ivan Schlager, who started at the Firm in June, and they will also be based in Kirkland’s Washington, D.C., office.
”Each of these lawyers bring significant skills and experience to Kirkland and understand the nuances of this ever-changing area of law,” Mr. Schlager said. “They provide strategic legal counsel that makes sense from a business perspective and have committed their careers to this area. We are excited to welcome them to the strong existing team here at Kirkland.”
Mr. Gerkin advises on issues involving the transnational flow of goods, software, technology and services, as well as investments in the United States and abroad. He counsels U.S., international and multinational companies, hedge funds, private equity funds and venture funds in matters concerning U.S. export controls, economic embargoes and sanctions, investment security reviews, customs, and trade remedies and other trade-related investigations, often in connection with mergers and acquisitions and other business transactions. He has also successfully led a number of clients through the CFIUS clearance process.
Mr. Mitchell advises clients on national security matters, including reviews by CFIUS, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), and Team Telecom, as well as on cybersecurity and information privacy issues. He gained significant national security experience as a lawyer for the U.S. government, including most recently as an associate general counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). In that role, which included a detail to the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division, he worked on CFIUS matters, including developing the ODNI’s input on the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act. He also advised ODNI and U.S. intelligence officials on a range of issues related to intelligence activities and cyber operations. Among other things, he helped author procedures for protecting the civil liberties and privacy of U.S. persons during the course of intelligence collection activities, and served as legal adviser to the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center.
Ms. Weinbaum has significant experience navigating national security reviews before CFIUS, having represented corporations, private equity, venture capital and sovereign wealth funds. She also has assisted clients in matters involving the DCSA, export controls, and government contracting. In addition, she has a strong background in mergers and acquisitions, securities law and general corporate matters. She was a captain in the U.S. Army and graduated from West Point.
They all join Kirkland from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
Kirkland’s International Trade and National Security Practice provides strategic and legal advice to companies, investment funds and financial institutions operating or investing across international borders. Anchored in Washington, D.C., with a global perspective and on-the-ground presence throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia, this team has decades of combined experience working on matters involving CFIUS and similar national security clearance regimes, U.S., UK and EU economic sanctions (OFAC), U.S. and EU export controls (ITAR, EAR), imports and trade agreements, anticorruption (FCPA, UK Bribery Act), anti-money laundering (AML) and related areas.
