Edward Shapiro

Ed Shapiro recently completed more than 30 years as a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Latham & Watkins LLP, a leading international law firm. He is a strategic advisor with experience in an array of legal and business issues and a well-deserved reputation for developing and implementing innovative solutions.

He has decades of experience and deep expertise in CFIUS, security clearance, and defense contracting matters. Mr. Shapiro has helped clients structure and negotiate M&A transactions and mitigation arrangements to support CFIUS approval and to allow contractors with foreign ownership to maintain their security clearances after closing. He has performed this work successfully for both strategic and financial investors, in virtually every business sector, including manufacturing, transportation, defense supply and service contracting, telecommunications, biotech, oil and gas, electric power generation/distribution and real estate. He has also guided many of these companies through successful implementation of their obligations:  selecting and orienting independent directors as required to comply with mitigation arrangements; developing policies, controls and monitoring/assurance mechanisms that protected U.S. national security while permitting subject businesses to operate efficiently under whatever foreign parent governance they were allowed to have; and counseling foreign parents and U.S. subsidiaries on compliance with mitigation agreements, on related governance issues, and (when necessary) on replacing directors consistently with mitigation agreement constraints. He is an expert in corporate governance and control issues, which he regularly litigated in a variety of commercial settings.  He has authored numerous alerts and monographs, and given numerous presentations, concerning developments in practice and rules concerning foreign direct investment in the United States.

Mr. Shapiro is an experienced advisor on government contracting rules, problems and issues, including compliance with laws governing procurement and contractor integrity (e.g., Ethics in Government Act, False Claims Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act); the conduct and defense of investigations into misconduct for contractors, independent board committees and individuals; litigation of contract claims, bid protests, prime/sub disputes and compliance issues of all kinds; defense against suspension/debarment proceedings; and in development and implementation of compliance programs.

Mr. Shapiro has served as Assistant General Counsel of the Department of Defense (Legal Counsel), where he and his staff were responsible for advising on, among other matters, defense industrial security matters and special investigations. He is a past Chair of the American Bar Association Committee on Contracting with National Security Requirements. He is a member of the Governing Board of the National Cathedral School, where he sits on the Executive Committee and chairs the Audit Committee. He is a graduate of Princeton University (AB) and Harvard Law School (JD).

Expertise

Foreign Direct Investment Review/CFIUS
Corporate Governance and Controls
Security Clearance and FOCI Mitigation
Investigations and Compliance

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