Mario Mancuso to Join Kirkland & Ellis

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is pleased to announce that Mario Mancuso will join the Firm, where he will lead the National Security and Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) practice. He will divide his time between the Firm’s Washington, D.C., and New York offices, serving clients on related transactional, investigative and advisory matters worldwide.

“Mario’s expertise, and his unique experience and reputation at the highest levels of government and in private practice, makes him a significant asset to our global client base across industries, geographies, and matter types,” said Jeffrey C. Hammes, Chairman of Kirkland’s Global Management Executive Committee. “His deep understanding of national security issues and law, and how international business activities are regulated for national security purposes, will bring great value to the Firm’s clients.”

Mr. Mancuso focuses on transactional and investigative matters involving the U.S. government’s national security regulation of international business activities, including CFIUS, economic sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), export controls (ITAR, EAR), anti-money laundering and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). He regularly represents multinational companies, financial sponsors, principal investors and boards of directors on such matters.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Mancuso was U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, where he was the official with immediate policy responsibility for matters involving industry and national security. He served as a senior CFIUS decision-maker; helped draft and implement regulations for the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007; and reviewed hundreds of CFIUS transactions as a regulator. 

His previous government positions also include: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Special Operations and Combating Terrorism; Special Counsel, Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense; Board Member, Global Markets Board, U.S. National Intelligence Council; Board Member, CFIUS Advisory Board, U.S. National Intelligence Council; U.S. Chair, U.S.-China High Technology and Strategic Trade Working Group; U.S. Chair, U.S.-India High Technology Cooperation Group; and U.S. Chair, U.S.-Israel High Technology Forum. Before his government service, he served as a forward deployed military officer during combat operations.

“CFIUS, economic sanctions and related areas continue to grow in importance to our clients, and Mario’s depth of expertise, government experience and business judgment in these matters will be invaluable to many of our clients and complementary to many of our practices,” said Jon Ballis, a partner in Kirkland’s Corporate Practice Group and a member of the Firm’s Global Management Executive Committee.

Mario’s legal experience and business judgment as a national security professional and policymaker will also complement the Firm’s leading government investigations practice.  

“Mario is particularly well-positioned to help clients through crises that involve national-security related enforcement actions or government investigations by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),” said Mark Filip, a partner in Kirkland’s Litigation Practice Group and member of the Firm’s Global Management Executive Committee.

Mr. Mancuso joins Kirkland from Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, where he was head of the International Trade and Investment, Aerospace & Defense, and Israel practices. He is an honors graduate of Harvard University and New York University School of Law. He is consistently recognized by Chambers USA and Chambers Global as a leading individual in International Trade: Export Controls Economic Sanctions. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.

About Kirkland & Ellis

Kirkland & Ellis LLP (www.kirkland.com) is a 1,600-attorney law firm representing global clients in complex corporate, restructuring and tax, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, and intellectual property and technology matters. The Firm has offices in Washington, D.C., Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco and Shanghai.