Miller & Chevalier Chartered today announced that Barbara D. Linney has joined the firm’s Export Controls and Economic Sanctions practice as a Member. Linney comes to the firm from Blank Rome LLP, where she was a partner.
For more than two decades, Linney has advised both U.S. and foreign clients on various international trade and regulatory issues, with a focus on export controls and international sanctions, defense trade and security regulations, and other international trade and business issues, including foreign investment review, mergers, acquisitions, and financings, and anti-corruption and anti-boycott compliance. She represents clients before various federal agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Defense, and State, as well as the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). She has particular technical depth in the defense, aerospace, oil and gas, and maritime industries.
Also joining the firm’s practice is Kuang Chiang, who served as a Licensing Examining Officer at OFAC. While at OFAC, Chiang examined and approved requests to conduct activities implicating the U.S. government’s various international sanctions programs, including overseas investment, cross-border commercial transactions, and export and import controls. A significant aspect of her work focused on the review of license applications and advisory requests under the Iranian Transactions Regulations.
“The current international sanctions environment is characterized by constant shifts, as well as significant political and legal risks. Add in the ongoing comprehensive export controls review and reform effort, and companies face substantial challenges navigating and complying with the myriad of regulations in this extremely complex area,” said John Davis, Chair of the International Department. “The addition of Barbara Linney and Kuang Chiang further strengthens our deep bench. Miller & Chevalier is extremely well-positioned to advise U.S. and foreign clients across the full spectrum of export controls and sanctions issues.”
Miller & Chevalier’s Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Practice
Miller & Chevalier’s Export Controls and Economic Sanctions practice includes lawyers who have substantial government, industry and private practice experience. Firm lawyers have written nearly all the fundamental building blocks and policies of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) administered by the Department of Commerce, including the de minimis rules, publicly available treatment, and the deemed export rule. More recently, firm lawyers have been involved in the review of the Administration’s proposed changes to the export controls regime, as well as assisted in the drafting of industry recommendations.
The firm’s Export Controls and Economic Sanctions group regularly advises businesses on the encryption rules, deemed export controls and other technology transfer regulations, end user and blacklist controls, de minimis calculations and strategies, and complex classification issues in diverse industries. The group also has dealt with some of the most complex and burdensome issues presented by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), including the demanding commodity jurisdiction issues facing both commercial firms and defense contractors.
In addition, Miller & Chevalier advises firms on the various embargo and sanctions regulations issued by OFAC, implementation of the Iran Sanctions Act and other sanctions legislation, as well as international sanctions regimes. For more than 25 years, Miller & Chevalier’s team members have worked in the government and private sector on reviews of possible acquisitions of U.S. companies by foreign entities, as conducted by CFIUS.
“We are very pleased to welcome Barbara to the firm and to continue the strategic expansion of our practice with the addition of such a highly experienced lawyer,” said Larry Christensen, head of Miller & Chevalier’s Export Controls and Economic Sanctions practice. “She has a recognized profile in the export controls and economic sanctions community, because of her many years of demonstrated experience handling complex regulatory, policy and compliance issues. In addition, she has an established track record guiding investors through highly specialized due diligence of domestic and international corporate transitions and is extremely well-positioned to help clients as M&A activity in various regulated industries continues to accelerate.”
“I have known Miller & Chevalier for many years, and I am delighted to be joining the firm,” said Barbara Linney. “Miller & Chevalier is a great fit for me and my clients, because of the firm’s long standing and highly focused practices in key areas, including export controls and economic sanctions, FCPA and international anti-corruption, global compliance and enforcement, customs, and trade policy and legislation.”
About the Lawyers
Barbara Linney was a partner at Blank Rome from 2003 through May of 2012, and prior to that was a partner at Dyer Ellis & Joseph, P.C. from 1998 until the firm merged with Blank Rome in 2003. Previously, she practiced in the District of Columbia and in Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada.
Linney is a past-president and Pro Bono General Counsel for the Association of Women in International Trade (WIIT-DC) and Pro Bono General Counsel for Women in Federal Law Enforcement, Inc (WIFLE). She received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 from WIIT-DC and the WIFLE Executive Committee Award in 2007 in recognition of her pro bono service. Linney also is a member of the Society of International Affairs and has been an active participant in its working group on ITAR compliance in mergers and acquisitions. She earned an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law from Georgetown University Law Center; an LL.B., with distinction, from the University of Saskatchewan College of Law; and a Bachelor of Commerce, with honors, from the University of Manitoba.
Kuang Chiang drafted nearly 800 formal agency rulings for exporters and financial institutions, including advisory letters and specific licenses, while at OFAC from 2009 to May 2012. In addition, she negotiated directly with foreign treasury and finance ministries to implement multilateral sanctions programs and maintain relationships with ally governments while advancing U.S. policy goals. Prior to OFAC, Chiang worked as an attorney at Cohen, Milstein, Sellers & Toll and Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP (now McKenna Long and Aldridge LLP). She earned a J.D. from Boston College Law School, an M.P.A. from New York University, and a B.A. from Brown University. She speaks Mandarin Chinese.
