Audi Syarief is a Senior Associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a member of the firm’s International Trade Practice Group.

Mr. Syarief advises clients on U.S. economic sanctions and embargoes, export controls, and national security reviews.  He has extensive experience in assessing civil and criminal enforcement risk, conducting internal investigations, strengthening trade compliance programs, and developing restricted-party screening protocols.  He routinely advocates before OFAC, BIS, DDTC, and CFIUS, and has secured licenses and approvals, filed voluntary self-disclosures, responded to administrative subpoenas, and engaged in various other agency-engagement efforts to further client interests.  Mr. Syarief also regularly conducts due diligence reviews of corporate transactions from an international trade perspective, and advises on trade-related issues raised in civil litigation and arbitration matters.

While Mr. Syarief represents clients across economic sectors on various issue sets, he is particularly well-versed in the application of sanctions authorizations relating to telecommunications, information, and the internet (e.g., the Berman Amendment, General License D-2), and has helped numerous companies understand and apply these authorizations.

Mr. Syarief maintains an active pro bono practice, representing non-profit clients on trade matters and securing asylum for clients from El Salvador and Indonesia.  From 2016 through 2021, he was named each year to the Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll maintained by the D.C. Access To Justice Commission.  In his spare time, he teaches a class on sanctions and export controls at Georgetown Law, and regularly publishes and speaks on these topics.  Mr. Syarief serves as the Chair of the Export Controls, Sanctions, and Anticorruption Subcommittee of the IBA’s International Commerce and Distribution Committee.  He also advises Law360 on their international trade coverage as a member of the publication’s advisory board.

Informing Mr. Syarief’s international trade practice is his extensive prior work on civil litigation, white collar criminal defense, and government contract matters.  He has litigated Helms-Burton Act cases, and advised on potential recovery and/or risks under the statute.  He has helped secure the termination of a four-year SEC accounting fraud investigation of a global financial institution.  He was also instrumental in negotiating with DOE a successful closeout of an energy company’s multi-million dollar cooperative agreement.

Mr. Syarief previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable Timothy J. Kelly of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.  He received his law degree from the University of Virginia, where he was an editor of the Virginia Law Review.  Mr. Syarief earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Rutgers University.  At Rutgers, and in collaboration with the Institute for Domestic and International Affairs (IDIA), he organized Model United Nations conferences and other educational initiatives for high school students.  He now serves on IDIA’s board of directors.

Appointments 

• Georgetown University Law Center – Adjunct Professor of Law
• Institute for Domestic and International Affairs – Board of Directors
• International Bar Association – International Commerce and Distribution Committee –  Chair of the Export Controls, Sanctions, and Anticorruption Subcommittee
• Law 360’s International Trade Editorial Advisory Board for 2022 and 2023

Select Speaker Engagements

• Featured Speaker, “Guide to Complying with OFAC Sanctions Regulations,” The Knowledge Group (July 13, 2023) (forthcoming)
• Panel Moderator, “Sanctions in the Era of the Russia-Ukraine War,” Georgetown University Law Center, 2023 Journal of National Security Law and Policy Symposium (Mar. 8, 2023)
• Keynote Speaker, Philadelphia Model United Nations 2023 Conference:  Exploring Development Through Diplomacy in Africa, Institute for Domestic and International Affairs (Feb. 23, 2023)
• Invited Speaker, “Iran Sanctions:  Current Events & Implications,” Iranian American Bar Association (Feb. 21, 2023)
• Panel Moderator, “Should I Stay or Should I Go Now: Navigating Global Sanctions on Russia,” the International Bar Association (Oct. 4, 2022)
• Featured Speaker, “OFAC Regulations and Economic Sanctions Compliance Programs: Best Practices,” The Knowledge Group (Sept.  29, 2022)
• Panelist, “2020 Sanctions and Export Controls Update,” Gibson Dunn Webcast (Oct. 15, 2020)

Select Coauthored Publications

• “United States Expands Sanctions Authorization of Internet-Based Activities in Wake of Protests in Iran,” NYU Law’s Compliance & Enforcement Blog (Oct. 17, 2022)
• “United States creates new sanctions regime over humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia,” Financier Worldwide (Nov. 2021)
• “United States sanctions against Myanmar’s military conglomerates,” Financier Worldwide (Jun. 2021)
• “Sanctions Enforcement Trends In the Era of COVID-19,” The Review of Securities & Commodities Regulation (Feb. 24, 2021)
• “Privilege – United States,” Global Investigations Review’s Know How (Nov. 2016)