David Laufman

Practice Areas

David is a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense, Investigations and Corporate Compliance Practice Group; a member of the International Trade Compliance Practice Group; and Co-Chair of the National Security Practice Group. David’s defense and compliance practice at Wiggin and Dana draws heavily on his extensive experience in government enforcement and national security affairs, most recently as Chief of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section (CES) in the National Security Division at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

David represents companies and individuals in federal white-collar criminal investigations and regulatory enforcement actions, as well as in congressional investigations, Inspector General investigations, and national security matters. He also counsels companies and individuals regarding compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), U.S. export control and sanctions laws, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and government ethics laws.

As Chief of CES, David oversaw the investigation and prosecution of offenses concerning a wide range of national security issues: U.S. export control and economic sanctions, foreign agent registration and disclosure, atomic energy and counterproliferation, espionage, the theft of trade secrets and other proprietary intellectual property benefiting a foreign government or instrumentality (economic espionage), cyber intrusions by nation states and their proxies, and the unauthorized retention and disclosure of classified information. Among his accomplishments as Chief of CES, David spearheaded DOJ’s increased enforcement of FARA; oversaw the criminal prosecution of ZTE Corporation, a leading Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer, for violations concerning U.S. sanctions against Iran; played a major role in negotiating a Non-Prosecution Agreement with Netcracker Technology Corporation, a global software company, resulting in the imposition of enhanced security protocols in software development; and co-authored both DOJ’s Strategic Plan for Export Control and Sanctions Enforcement and its Guidance Regarding Voluntary Self-Disclosures, Cooperation, and Remediation in Export Control and Sanctions Investigations Involving Business Organizations.

Previously, David served as a federal prosecutor and a senior official at DOJ’s highest operational and policy levels. As Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General from 2001 to 2003, he assisted in the day-to-day management of DOJ and helped to coordinate its responses to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Afterward, he served as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, where he prosecuted terrorism, export control, and other national security offenses. David also later served as a Special Trial Attorney to the Fraud Section at DOJ, where, on detail from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (“SIGIR”), he investigated and prosecuted procurement fraud and corruption related to U.S. economic assistance to Iraq.

David has received several awards for his work as a litigator. In 2006, he received the John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement, DOJ’s highest award for excellence in litigation, for his trial work as lead prosecutor in the terrorism case United States v. Abu Ali. In 2007, David received the FBI Director’s Award for Outstanding Counterterrorism Investigation for his work in United States v. Khan (“the Virginia Jihad case”). In 2011, he received the Award for Excellence in Investigation from the Council of the Inspector Generals for Integrity and Efficiency for his work in the case of United States v. Ayesh, which resulted in new judicial precedent regarding the extraterritorial application of federal conflict-of-interest laws.

David is the author of numerous publications and has provided expert commentary to prominent news organizations and programs, including The New York Times, the Washington Post, National Public Radio, PBS Newshour, BBC World News America, MSNBC, and CNN. His legal accomplishments also have been featured in the Wall Street Journal.

Personal

J.D., Georgetown University Law Center. B.A., University of Pennsylvania, magna cum laude.